Villeneuve, a former F1 champion, caused a stir in Montreal when he questioned why Ricciardo, a seasoned driver with eight grand prix wins, was still in the sport.
He said: “Why is he still in F1? We’re hearing the same thing for the last five years. We have to ‘make the car better for him, poor him.’ No. You’re in F1. If you can’t cut it, go home.”
But Ricciardo responded strongly by qualifying fifth for the Canadian Grand Prix. When asked about Villeneuve’s comments, Ricciardo didn’t hold back.
He said: “I heard he has been talking shit, but he always does. I think he has hit his head a few too many times. I don’t know if he plays ice hockey or something, but I won’t give him the time of day. All those people can suck it. I want to say more but we will leave him behind.”
Ricciardo explained that his strong qualifying performance was the result of both feeling comfortable in his car and adopting a new approach after some self-reflection following the Monaco Grand Prix.
He said: “I was always looking at the on-track stuff, ‘I can brake later here, or do this and that.’ But it was like OK, what are some other things that are affecting my performances?
“Am I coming into a race weekend not feeling energised or not feeling this or that?’ So I probably had a good bit of self-therapy after Monaco.
“I sat back and had a look at maybe the things I am doing wrong away from the track, maybe giving too much time away to people and by the time I get to race day, I’m a little bit more flat.
“I know it’s in me, so as I said, we are always going to be trying to fine-tune the car but deep down, I know what I can do and it is just making sure I am in the spot to do it more often. Trying to take as much accountability as possible.”
Ricciardo emphasized the importance of honesty within the team and being open to constructive criticism to address any issues.
“After Monaco, because it was a weekend where I was a bit down emotionally after not doing well on a track I love, with everyone around me, the team, engineers, the inner circle, it was like: ‘guys, open book, constructive criticism, give it to me, where do you think I could clean up, where do feel I am maybe missing something?’
“A lot of it was energy management across the weekend, so it is not even what I am doing in the car. It is just what gets me into the car feeling like I am f**king ready to go.
“It was just trying to clean up some of those things, and if there was anything on my mind, just get it off my chest.
“I got into this weekend feeling, certainly a bit lighter and yeah, just hungry and happy and ready to say f**k you.”
