Brutally honest Ricciardo statement issued on F1 criticism

Former Formula 1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve has issued a brutally honest update after his fierce criticism of Daniel Ricciardo earlier this season.

Speaking at the Canadian Grand Prix in June, the 1997 world champion raised eyebrows when he delivered a scathing verdict on the Aussie's F1 career and questioned why he was still in the sport.

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Villeneuve also made other claims, including that Ricciardo had only beaten Sebastian Vettel at Red Bull because the champion was ‘burnt out’.

The comments provoked a fiery reaction from Ricciardo himself who slammed the Canadian racing driver for his comments, and went on to produce a P8 result in the race.

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Jacques Villeneuve on Daniel Ricciardo comments

However, Ricciardo was eventually sacked from VCARB for failing to perform in 2024, with Villeneuve ultimately proven right.

Now, addressing his axe for the first time since their fiery clash in a lengthy statement, Villeneuve has suggested he has no regrets over his comments.

"It never crossed my mind that I wanted to be proven right. It got a lot of reaction, a lot of negative and some positive,” Villeneuve said via Sportscasting.

"It got a lot of people discussing the subject openly. It's not a question of destroying someone but you have to look at reality. I think people realised 'Okay, Jacques has a fair point, let's discuss it in depth' and that happened. That's what I'm happy about.

"My feelings wouldn't be any different if Daniel Ricciardo stayed at Red Bull. I'm not saying "Oh, I'm happy now he's left F1.' I'm just glad to have brought reality to the fore.

"Daniel still has a great image and a great career, it hasn't done him any damage. It was just a conversation about the racing industry which has got a bit sidetracked about what is important. It was a case of saying what everybody was thinking. It's not about me feeling vindicated about him being out of F1 or not.

"When you do punditry, you just try to talk about what is pertinent. It doesn't mean you're right and it's hard to be neutral, no matter how hard you try. We all have feelings which come out. You want to make sure you give enough food for thought and enough food to make sure discussions happen. That's what I'm glad about."

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