VCARB Boss Shuts Down David Croft as Daniel Ricciardo Continues to Face Jibes All Over

In the buildup to the 2024 Canadian GP, Daniel Ricciardo was being subjected to immense criticism. The Visa Cash App RB (V-CARB) driver had most recently been on the receiving end of some scathing remarks from 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve.

During the Free Practice coverage for the Canadian GP, Sky Sports F1’s David Croft seemingly joined in with Villeneuve. Speaking to team boss Laurent Mekies, the British presenter insinuated that Liam Lawson would be a better prospect for the team than Ricciardo, owing to the latter’s weight.

But in response, Mekies stood firm by the #3 driver and he shut down the jibes. The V-CARB boss went on to explain to Croft how the weight of a driver doesn’t really have any impact on the performance of the car, owing to ballasts. Ballasts are weights that are tied to an F1 car to improve the overall balance of the car and bring it up to the minimum weight.

In reply to Croft, Mekies explained, “In F1 we have this beautiful thing which is driver weight ballast. Light drivers and heavy drivers are effectively driving with no penalty because you have to have a minimum driver weight ballasted in the car. So, if you have a light driver you put a little bit more ballast, and with a heavy driver a bit less ballast.”

The Honey Badger has been receiving a lot of criticism since the beginning of the 2024 season. Admittedly, the #3 driver has struggled to match the pace and performances of his teammate, Yuki Tsunoda. However, the entire team has come out to defend its driver, and Ricciardo has been leading by example this Grand Prix weekend.

Daniel Ricciardo hits back at critics with sublime Canadian GP qualifying performance

All the criticism started when Villeneuve made some brutal comments about Ricciardo’s performances. The Canadian questioned why the Honey Badger was still in F1. He claimed that the Australian had never really beaten anyone other than a “burnt-out Sebastian Vettel” and an “18-year-old Max Verstappen.”

The former Canadian F1 driver ended his tirade by claiming that Ricciardo was in the sport because of his image and not his performances. But in the immediate aftermath of these comments, Ricciardo delivered his response on the track.

He qualified a brilliant P5 for the main race and was only 0.178s off the pole-position lap time set by Mercedes’ George Russell. In the media pen afterwards, Ricciardo sent a verbal jibe Villeneuve’s way.

“Eat sh*t” were the parting words of the Honey Badger. He most likely targeted these towards the 1997 world champion.