'Childish' Ricciardo is a ‘hot potato’ protected by media, says Villeneuve

The 1997 Formula 1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve first criticised Ricciardo at the beginning of the Canadian Grand Prix weekend. Ricciardo responded to Villeneuve's words after qualifying in fifth, telling the Canadian to 'Eat s**t'.

In conversation with CryptoSportsBetting.ltd, Villeneuve continued his war of words after the Canadian Grand Prix. “Daniel Ricciardo is a hot potato. It’s always risky to criticise him because he’s extremely protected by his team and the media and by fans on social media. It’s a burnt subject, even if you say something constructive, you’ll get burnt one way or another and you’ll have a lot of people who get angry," said Villeneuve.

Villeneuve went on to appreciate Ricciardo's performance in qualifying. The Australian qualified in P5, ahead of Lewis Hamilton. In fact, Ricciardo managed to get his Visa Cash App RB car just 0.178 seconds short of Russell and Max Verstappen's quickest time in Q3. Ricciardo converted that into a P8 finish in the Grand Prix, but Villeneuve went on to suggest it only happened because the likes of Ferrari and Sergio Perez were uncompetitive. Later in the weekend, Villeneuve claimed that his brutal words helped Ricciardo get the result he required. 

Ricciardo's response upset Villeneuve

In the war of words, Ricciardo snapped back and said: "I think he's hit his head too many times". This seems to have triggered Villeneuve.

"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," concluded Villeneuve.