F1 | Ricciardo responds to Villeneuve on and off the track: “he always says bullshit”

The stone remained in the shoe for only 24 hours. After qualifying, which ended in fifth place, Daniel Ricciardo arrived at the meeting with the journalists visibly satisfied, but he showed off the smile… à la Ricciardo after listening to the first question, relating to the criticism received from Jacques Villeneuve the day before.

The former world champion, speaking as a commentator on the British Sky Sport F1, attacked the Australian: “Why is he still in F1? If he can’t make it, let him go home! Words followed by a violent attack on Ricciardo’s entire career, a sad cliché of Villeneuve (who spares no one) known for years and which is often repeated when he finds himself in front of a microphone. The great thing is that Jacques’ scathing judgments are often promptly proven wrong, and this was the case in this case too.

Ricciardo obviously didn’t shy away from replying, but he didn’t go beyond a brief comment. “I heard that he said some bullshit – commented Daniel smiling – but we know that he always does it. Maybe he hit his head too many times, I don’t know if he plays hockey, that could be an explanation. But I don’t want to add anything else, let’s move on.” A criticism, in this case constructive, is the one that Ricciardo made to himself, underlining at the beginning of the weekend how the possibility of being reconfirmed by Racing Bulls will depend only on how much he manages to do.

After the exploit in qualifying Daniel opened the book, talking about what happened after the disappointment of the Monaco Grand Prix. “It was like having a self-therapy session. I have always tried to analyze my problems on the track, asking myself how I can ‘brake a little later’ or ‘accelerate earlier’, this kind of analysis, but after the Monaco race I asked myself if there is something else that it affects my performance. Arrive at the race weekend with no energy? Am I doing something wrong in managing my time? I know it’s inside me, and I’m trying to take on as much responsibility as possible.”

“After Monte Carlo I was down in spirits, not having done well on a track I love hurt me. I asked everyone around me to tell me what they thought, unfiltered, their honest opinion on what I could have done better, and we talked a lot. It was great because I’m almost 35, I don’t need any more pats on the back, I prefer people to tell me directly what they think, so we started talking in the post-race debrief and eventually continued over the next few days. I tried to free myself from every thought, to clean up my mind, and I must say that I entered this weekend lighter and more peaceful.”

Obviously behind Ricciardo’s qualifying performance there is also the technical work done on the car. “On this track you need confidence – continued Daniel – and I already felt the car in the right way in Friday’s practice. I was able to make it flow and ride a little more aggressively, and this made me realize that there was a possibility of doing well. Then, I love this track, 10 years have passed since my first Formula 1 victory which I achieved right here in Canada. That day changed my life, it made me feel ready to do something good, and I hope to start from here for a new chapter.”