Jacques Villeneuve hits back at ‘childish, hot potato’ Daniel Ricciardo

Initially, the Australian responded by letting his driving do the talking, qualifying a very impressive fifth in Montreal before avoiding the chaos in the race to take the chequered flag in eighth, his first proper points finish of the season.

But when asked about Villeneuve’s comments, Ricciardo fought fire with fire, telling the media: ‘I heard he’s been talking s**t. But he always does.

‘I think he’s hit his head a few too many times. So I don’t know if he plays ice hockey or something.

‘He had a good qualifying session and then an ok race marred by the false start where he got a penalty and in the end, he scored points because drivers in front of him messed up.

‘He kept his nose clean, he brought home some points but that means very little in the context of the season and he needs to do more than that. It’s that simple. The scoreboard doesn’t lie and it’s like that for every driver.

‘Obviously I got under his skin because it made him go faster and even Christian Horner thought that it gave him a bit of a boost and maybe he needed that. At least he got a lot of media mileage out of this!

‘What I find incredible is the reaction that some of these drivers have nowadays in the media. It’s completely unprofessional and has nothing to do with the business and it can be personally insulting which is amazing.

‘I can’t imagine Daniel saying that to other media so that’s weird. If he says that someone hit his head playing Ice Hockey, how constructive and how professional is that?

‘It’s very childish and people like Daniel are role models and they think that’s the right way to act. You have to be careful with that.

‘I found that really strange when someone says I don’t care what people say. You need to have tough skin, in F1 you will be criticised and you have to take it. Don’t say something childish and insulting.’

With RB teammate Yuki Tsunoda signing a new deal until 2025 and with promising Red Bull junior Liam Lawson waiting in the wings, the eight-time race winner may have to rely on his close friendship with Horner to bail him out.

‘I have no idea why Daniel Ricciardo is so protected but he has a huge aura around him,’ Villeneuve added.

‘Good for him but imagine if he could back that up with results? He’s not lived up to expectations and he’s not consistent so he knows he’s not up to speed and he hasn’t had results that have been good enough.

‘It’s that simple. There’s nothing wrong with saying that. Saying it might hurt but you’re in F1, just take it and move on. The truth hurts.’

After nine races, Ricciardo is 12th in the standings with the F1 season set to continue on 23 June with the Spanish Grand Prix.

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