Jacques Villeneuve slams ‘personal’ Daniel Ricciardo comments as ‘joke’ penalty addressed – F1 news round-up

Jacques Villeneuve and Daniel Ricciardo battled, verbally, in Canada

As the dust begins to settle on a thrilling Canadian Grand Prix, we have some major talking points to bring you up to speed with.

The most heated battle arguably came not on the track, but off it as Jacques Villeneuve and Daniel Ricciardo went at it verbally. We have the next instalment from that war of words, while fans have hit out at a “joke” false start penalty for Ricciardo plus much, much more…

Jacques Villeneuve chastises Daniel Ricciardo for making it ‘personal’

Villeneuve, serving as a pundit for Sky F1 at the Canadian Grand Prix, went in hot with his criticism of RB driver Ricciardo, which sparked quite the back and forth across the race weekend.

With Ricciardo saying: “I think he’s hit his head a few too many times. So I don’t know if he plays ice hockey or something”, Villeneuve felt the war of words got “personal”, as he criticised Ricciardo for failing to be a better role model.

Read more – Jacques Villeneuve hits back at ‘personal’ Daniel Ricciardo comments as war of words continues

Fans call Daniel Ricciardo penalty a ‘joke’

Ironically, Ricciardo delivered a solid performance in Canada to finish a grand prix in the points for the first time this season, claiming P8 even after being handed a five-second penalty for a false start.

“Joke” and “robbed” were words used by fans on social media who did not take too kindly to that stewards’ verdict.

Read more – Daniel Ricciardo reveals suspected cause of Canadian GP jump start as ‘joke’ penalty criticised

Will Buxton tears into Red Bull punishment

Also catching the attention of the stewards was Red Bull and Sergio Perez, who received a €25,000 fine and three-place grid drop for the Spanish GP respectively after Perez crashed his RB20 and – at the request of Red Bull – drove it back to the pits to retire from the race.

Formula 1 presenter Will Buxton felt the punishment was far too light for endangering other drivers, even dropping a ‘Crashgate’ comparison in there.

Read more – Red Bull punishment slammed after rule break and ‘endangering’ drivers

Toto Wolff leaps to defence of George Russell

Starting from pole in Montreal, Mercedes driver George Russell was very much a contender for the win, but several errors, including misjudging the kerb at Turn 8 and making contact with Oscar Piastri, contributed to his final P3 finishing position.

Six-time F1 race winner Ralf Schumacher was not impressed, but Russell’s Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff defended the Brit, pointing out that there was “brilliance” too in his race.

Read more – Toto Wolff defends George Russell after ‘force his way through the wall’ criticism

Alpine radio transcript highlights Esteban Ocon team orders frustration

Esteban Ocon, already confirmed as leaving Alpine at the end of F1 2024, criticised his team in Canada over their use of team orders, calling himself the “team player” to follow the request of yielding to Pierre Gasly, but feeling the team did not do their part in failing to allow him back through, after Gasly was unable to pass Ricciardo.

The full radio transcript through this saga has now emerged, which included a sarcastic “amazing” from Ocon to his race engineer Josh Peckett.

Read more – Full Esteban Ocon radio transcript uncovered after team order row in Canada