F1 Champion Analyzes Daniel Ricciardo’s Villeneuve Clapback – Presents Two Questions in Return

The Canadian GP weekend has had an extra flavor due to Jacques Villeneuve’s unfiltered criticism of Daniel Ricciardo. The 1997 champion questioned the Australian driver’s place in F1 due to his inconsistent and subpar output in the past few seasons. However, Ricciardo shut down his biggest critic of the weekend with an incredible qualifying result. He also addressed Villeneuve’s comments in the post-qualifying interview which was analyzed by former champion, Damon Hill.

Ricciardo put his VCARB-01 on the third row for the upcoming race on the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. After the P5 result, he was made aware of the comments made by the 1997 champion.

As seen on Sky Sports F1’s official Twitter (now X) page, he said, “I’ve just been told. I don’t listen or read, but there’s definitely some people out there who, yeah, whatever. I won’t give them the time of day, but yeah, top five.”

A perfect and swift reply by the Honey Badger to silence all doubters. However, the 1996 champion Damon Hill threw two questions toward Ricciardo. In his reply to the tweet, he wrote, “Interesting and honest reply from Daniel. It gets harder as time goes by. It’s there, but how to get at it? What will light the fire again?“

Hill puts up two very important and good questions. The eight-time Grand Prix winner has been trying to understand how to extract his potential regularly for a few years now. He’s shown glimpses but F1 demands consistency.

Perhaps the second question by Hill about lighting the fire answered itself in Canada. An under pressure and angry Ricciardo performs the best. While that is not the right mindset for giving consistent performances, it was good enough to make Villeneuve change his mind.

Jacques Villeneuve puts faith in Daniel Ricciardo’s abilities after a mega-qualifying

Ricciardo’s performance in Montreal qualifying silenced his loudest doubter for the weekend. The P5 result proves the V-CARB man still has what it takes, he’s just been misfiring. However, if the Aussie gets a car in the right window and under the right conditions, he can produce results. Thus, soon after the qualifying session, the 1997 champion toned down his views but suggested this needs to be a regular scenario.

As quoted in a post by @JunaidSamodien_ on X, Villeneuve said, “When you have a car that suits you, you can deliver performances like this. Today, was a good qualifying, but he needs to carry on.”

However, despite being at the top of the midfield battle, the competition has increased tenfold for V-CARB. Since last season, the grid has closed up and the top five teams often occupy the points-scoring places. So, battling in the top 10 might be difficult but Ricciardo will need to stay competitive every weekend.