Daniel Ricciardo has hit back at criticism from 1997 Formula 1 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve after he qualified an exceptional fifth at the Canadian Grand Prix.
Villeneuve made a scathing assessment of Ricciardo earlier this weekend over the struggles that have seen him trail behind RB team-mate Yuki Tsunoda this season.
But with speculation continuing to mount over his prospects, Ricciardo excelled at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve to progress to Q3 and end up inside the top five places.
The Australian wound up 0.178s behind George Russell’s pole position time and out-qualified Tsunoda, who was eighth, for the second time in nine attempts in 2024.
When asked whether acquiring his highest starting spot this season would silence the critics, Ricciardo asserted that he would choose to ignore Villeneuve’s remarks.
“So I still don’t know what he said, but I heard he’s been talking s***,” Ricciardo said. “But he always does. I think he’s hit his head a few too many times.
“Won’t give him the time of day, but all those people could suck it. I want to say more, but it’s alright. We’ll leave him behind.”
Ricciardo reiterated his credence that his inherent pace had not deserted him and it boiled down to him being able to extract such speed on a more consistent basis.
“Well, I think this year hasn’t really been always a question of if I’ve still got the speed to do it,” he expressed.
“It’s just been the consistency, which I haven’t been able to show it week in, week out.
“So it’s definitely been more of a struggle, well, more than I thought, but I know the speed’s there and it’s just tapping into it and I look at myself first.
“So you’re always trying to fine-tune the car, but I, yeah, I feel like it’s more just getting myself in that sweet spot. And yeah, maybe 10 years ago it came easier.
“Maybe when you’re a kid, you just jump in and drive and the older you get, the more things that are around your life and involved and can maybe interfere.
“So it’s just trying to, yeah, acknowledge that and make sure I’m coming into the weekend with a clear head and just ready to go.
“I mean, it was always going to be, I was always happy coming back here because it’s a track I love.
“And today’s the 10 years, exactly 10 years today, June the 8th, since I won my first race.
“So there’s always some feel-good factor about here and about coming back here and, yeah, just changed a few things since Monaco and trying to get it together.
“So nice to do it today. We’ve done it all weekend. So far we’ve been quick all weekend.”
Ricciardo, who converted fourth place in the Miami Sprint last month, has declared he wants to go on the attack in the race rather than focus on keeping cars behind.
Regarding his race prospects, Ricciardo previewed: “Well, it’s, you know, the line to Turn One’s pretty short, so there’s a good chance of keeping it [the place].
“But I mean, looking at quali times, it’s pretty close. So maybe we can go forward and not worry about the cars behind. So we’ll see.”
