Jacques Villeneuve has hit out at Daniel Ricciardo, claiming it wasn't his performance that kept him in F1 and he should thank Netflix for his work.
After parting ways with McLaren at the end of a disappointing two years at Woking, which included the Australian's eighth Grand Prix win, Ricciardo has opted to spend 2023 on the sidelines. He returned to the track with Red Bull's junior team.
With his career coming full circle, Ricciardo returned to the team where he spent his first full season on the grid in 2012.
“His long career cannot be evaluated based on results.”
And he remains with the team, currently known as 'Visa Cash App RB' or simply 'RB', as they continue towards the 2024 championship and could return to Red Bull next season to replace Sergio Perez. There is sex.
But Villeneuve believes the 34-year-old's longevity in the sport has not been due to his grades, but to his public personality.
“Ricardo is purely a product of image and modern social media,” the 1997 world champion told betideas.com. “You can't evaluate his long career based on results. It's impossible. They don't add up.
“It's amazing. He can thank Netflix and all that kind of stuff. His smile, his demeanor in the paddock in front of the camera.
“In the end, it's even. [Yuki] Tsunoda: He doesn't do flashy work. But he brings value to F1 and that's why he's there. ”
The Canadian believes there are other options for players as fast as Ratel on Red Bull's junior team, but for now his image is keeping him in the car.
“There are many drivers as fast as him, but they don't have his image,” he added. “Then, you can take a picture of it.”
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Ricardo: I don't consider myself an entertainer, I consider myself a race car driver.
This is not the first time Villeneuve has lashed out at Ricciardo, last year he criticized Ratel for “laughing in commercials”.
He told Gazzetta dello Sport: “I want to ask kids today who want to be drivers: Do you want to do it out of passion or because you want to look like Daniel Ricciardo smiling in the commercials?”
Later that month, Ricardo was asked at a press conference whether “marketing and PR values often cloud the narrative.”
He replied: “Bottom line is, no, I think we all certainly have… Our profiles have all grown in the last few years, especially since Drive to Survive. So we've all felt that a little bit.” It may happen.
“I think it's just my personality, and the fact that I enjoy the sport. Yeah, I might have grown up a little bit because of that. Sometimes I have a big laugh, but generally, first of all, First of all, I don't consider myself an entertainer, I consider myself a race car driver.
“It's funny sometimes, people say to me, 'That season was great,' and I'm like, 'Race season or Drive to Survive season?' Maybe not all of us are seen as race car drivers. But yeah, that's just a few.
“But like I said, I think we all build part of our name recognition and brand, but that doesn't take anything away from the racing side of things. And that's first and foremost important. is.
“And I think this, certainly, through all of this, you might be able to get some time away from you, so I was able to come back to it this year and spend a little bit of that time, that's for sure. It made me feel a certain way about just figuring out what I thought moving forward and how I wanted to race.
“Probably just removing some things and going back to basics a little bit. Yeah, I see myself as a race car driver who's still hungry and determined, not just someone who's having a good time.” This is so that you can be protected.”
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