Jacques Villeneuve tears into 'hot potato' Daniel Ricciardo with latest jibe: "At least he got a lot of media mileage out of this"

Former F1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve has once again gone after Daniel Ricciardo and branded him a 'hot potato' after the duo had the back and forth in the F1 Canadian GP. It all began with the former F1 champion's rant against the Australian during the Canadian GP race weekend.

Villeneuve was questioned what he felt about Daniel Ricciardo after the Friday free practice sessions to which the Canadian questioned why the Australian was even in F1. In a rant that talked about Daniel's entire career, Villeneuve felt that the driver was just not cutting it in the sport.

Daniel Ricciardo was quite furious at the comments made by the Canadian and had a few choice words about the former champion as well. In between all of this, the driver had an impressive weekend in Canada, where he scored points for RB.

Villeneuve, however, is seemingly not letting things go, as the Canadian had a lot to say about the Australian once all was said and done. Talking to cryptosportsbetting, Villeneuve brands Daniel Ricciardo as a hot potato who was heavily guarded by his teams and fans. He said,

“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."

He added,

"Ultimately, the results have not been there. He was really good at Red Bull and since he left them, it’s been very difficult and his return hasn’t been flamboyant. 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 Daniel Ricciardo had said about Jacques Villeneuve

Daniel Ricciardo was questioned about the comments made by Jacques Villeneuve after qualifying. The Australian was visibly upset at the things that had been said by the Canadian. He did allude to the fact that the former champion is notorious for making disparaging remarks, and this was nothing new. He said,

“I heard he’s been talking s**t,” he told the media. “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. I won’t give him the time of day but all those people can suck it. I want to say more but we’ll leave him behind.”

It is safe to say that Ricciardo did come back swinging in his reply for the Canadian. At the same time, the fact that Villeneuve is not letting it go and continuing to say things doesn't look good either.

It will be very interesting to see if Daniel does reply to these statements or lets this slide.