The war of words between Jacques Villeneuve and Daniel Ricciardo does not appear to be subsiding any time soon as the Australian has been termed ‘unprofessional’ and ‘childish’ by the Canadian. The entire back and forth between the two began when Villeneuve was questioned about Daniel on Friday during the F1 Canadian GP weekend.

The Canadian went off on a brutal rant that saw him question why Daniel Ricciardo was even in F1. Jacques questioned if the only reason why Daniel was in the sport was because of the marketing benefit that he brought to the team. The Canadian even went as far as to say that the Australian has not been that impressive ever in his career and was almost overrated in his view.

Daniel Ricciardo on his part had a strong Canadian GP race weekend and after an impressive qualifying session where he was P5, he was questioned about the remarks made by the former champion. The Australian had some choice words to say about the Canadian and said that he wouldn’t give him the time of day.

Daniel Ricciardo ended up having a strong overall weekend where he scored a P8 finish but Jacques Villeneuve is not done commenting on the Australian. Talking to CryptoSportsBetting, the Canadian laid into Ricciardo, claiming that the reaction to his comments from the Australian was unprofessional and childish. In another rant against Daniel, Jacques said (as quoted by PlanetF1),

What I find incredible is the reaction that some of these drivers have nowadays in the media. It’s completely unprofessional and has nothing to do with the business and it can be personally insulting which is amazing. I can’t imagine Daniel saying that to other media so that’s weird. If he says that someone hit his head playing Ice Hockey, how constructive and how professional is that?”

He added,

“It’s very childish and people like Daniel are role models and they think that’s the right way to act. You have to be careful with that. I found that really strange when someone says I don’t care what people say. You need to have tough skin, in F1 you will be criticised and you have to take it. Don’t say something childish and insulting.”

“I have no idea why Daniel Ricciardo is so protected”: Jacques Villeneuve

The Canadian further questioned why Daniel Ricciardo was so protected by his team and his fans. After the comments made by the former world champion, many fans had not taken the attack lightly and the pundit was even the target of fan backlash at the time.

Doubling down on his claims, the Canadian reiterated that Daniel has not performed at the level one expects him at for a long time. Other than one-off performances, he’s not been a consistent force. Hence, the truth remains that the criticisms were legitimate even if they hurt. He said,

“I have no idea why Daniel Ricciardo is so protected but he has a huge aura around him. Good for him but imagine if he could back that up with results? He’s not lived up to expectations and he’s not consistent so he knows he’s not up to speed and he hasn’t had results that have been good enough. It’s that simple. There’s nothing wrong with saying that. Saying it might hurt but you’re in F1, just take it and move on. The truth hurts.”

With Sergio Perez confirmed at Red Bull, it does make the 2024 F1 season a battle of survival at RB for Daniel Ricciardo.