“Almost half his career has been bad,” Jacques Villeneuve aggressively dismisses any chances of Daniel Ricciardo landing a seat at Alpine

“Almost half his career has been bad,” Jacques Villeneuve aggressively dismisses any chances of Daniel Ricciardo landing a seat at Alpine

Jacques Villeneuve and F1 driver Daniel Ricciardo

Alpine F1 team are tied in a knot as they have to decide who will take up their remaining seat for next year. In the wake of this, 1997 Formula 1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve went on to dismiss any claims of Daniel Ricciardo. There are multiple drivers that are linked with a possible seat at Alpine and Villeneuve is convinced that the ‘Honey Badger’ is not one of them despite his 2-year stint with the team.

When Fernando Alonso announced that he will be departing from Alpine and joining Aston Martin next year, the team announced Oscar Piastri as their driver for 2023 which he publicly refused as he was in talks with McLaren over fellow Aussie Daniel Ricciardo’s seat which he got in the end after Alpine and McLaren along with Oscar were in an FIA contract recognition board which solved any possible. This meant that Alpine needed a driver who would either lead the team or else it would have to settle with a young driver and finally make Esteban Ocon team leader. Some suggestions Pierre Gasly but Jacques Villeneuve suggested that it wouldn’t be possible at all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AXJ-yj7hKA

When it comes to Daniel Ricciardo, the 97’ world champ was adamant that he doesn’t have the competitive advantage anymore to be of any use to the team. He further explained how the Aussie’s career has been on a downfall ever since he left Red Bull to join Renault which had now rebranded as Alpine. Jack Villeneuve spoke on F1 TV during the race weekend in Monza and did not hold back at all. Here is what he had to say about the 8time Grand Prix winner.

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‘Half his F1 career has been bad when he’s had experience,” Jacques Villeneuve on Daniel Ricciardo’s F1 stint so far

Jacques Villeneuve
Jacques Villeneuve

He further talked about Ricciardo’s poor performance when he was asked whether he was surprised that the honey badger wasn’t in the mix for the Alpine seat. “Why should he be? He’s done two awful years at Renault, two even worse years at McLaren, that’s four years and how long has he been in F1 total?
“Almost half his F1 career has been bad and that’s when he’s had experience, so there’s no reason, especially for a team he has already driven for,” said Jacques Villeneuve.

Although it’s not all bad for Daniel Ricciardo as he will be leaving as McLaren’s last race winner. The last race was Monza from last year and since F1 is racing on the historic track last weekend, it must have unlocked some fond memories for the Aussie. Although the DNF at the last moment did not help his case much as the Monza curse struck again for the third time in a row. Will Verstappen be next?

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