Whether it’s on the track or away from it, controversies are a part of what makes Formula 1 so interesting. And the latest bit of back and forth has been going on between V-CARB driver, Daniel Ricciardo and Jacques Villeneuve, who recently belittled the Aussie’s career. However, former Ferrari manager, Peter Windsor has recently spoken on this situation and defended Ricciardo while still pointing out problems with his career choices.
While Windsor believes that Ricciardo’s career can’t be summed up as disappointing, he still thinks that his decision to leave Red Bull in 2018 in favor of Renault was a big mistake on the Australian’s part. In a conversation on the ‘Cameron F1’ podcast, Windsor said,
“The big criticism I’ve always made of Daniel is deciding to leave Red Bull because, you know, he just didn’t like the way it was going with Max [Verstappen] and I think that was a massive mistake that he made… I will always say that I think he should have stayed at Red Bull… That was the mistake he made and then when he took the money went to Renault, you know, then he lost his internal… burning ambition, fire, whatever you want to call it.”
Although, Windsor also defended Villeneuve for actually being brave enough to speak his mind at a time when most of the F1 pundits have become what he called “unopinionated”.
However, he still thinks that Villeneuve’s comments were a bit too harsh on Daniel Ricciardo. Windsor added some context to what the Canadian said about Ricciardo’s 2014 battle with Sebastian Vettel. He mentioned how the Aussie completely blew away the four-time champion and had a solid Red Bull career stint later.
Peter Windsor has a different view on Daniel Ricciardo vs Sebastian Vettel
Daniel Ricciardo getting the better of Sebastian Vettel has always been a major highlight of the former’s career. His 2014 exploits at Red Bull got him all the limelight and also forced Vettel to switch to Ferrari in 2015.
On the other hand, Villeneuve said that Ricciardo was only able to beat Vettel because the German driver was not at his best in 2014 and was trying too many things to get back to winning ways. Windsor still cited how the Australian driver deserves the credit for beating the reigning champion, who was at the peak of his powers back then.
Many would disagree with Villeneuve’s viewpoint, given the German driver went on to do relatively well for Ferrari later. Vettel won 15 Grands Prix after leaving Red Bull in 2014 and led the Scuderia in the two championship battles in 2017 and 2018. Meanwhile, Ricciardo had to settle for a struggling Red Bull outfit, that was striving to climb out of the midfield in the turbo-hybrid era.
Besides, the Aussie has never really fought in a championship battle like Vettel. Still, the eight-time Grand Prix winner gets a lot of praise for beating the likes of Vettel and Max Verstappen during his Red Bull stint, which is quite valid too, as Windsor pointed out.
