Jacques Villeneuve has questioned why Daniel Ricciardo is still on the F1 grid after a miserable start to the 2024 campaign. The popular Aussie has failed to score points in all eight Grands Prix so far this year but is being lined up for another season at VCARB in 2025.

Heading into the year, Ricciardo was expected to dominate team-mate Yuki Tsunoda and make a claim for Sergio Perez’s seat alongside Max Verstappen, but the 34-year-old has just five points to his name after an impressive sprint race in Miami, while his Japanese colleague has 19.

When asked for his opinion by Sky Sports F1, Villeneuve was scathing in his assessment. “Why is he still in F1?” he probed. “Why? We’re hearing the same thing now for the last four or five years.

“‘We have to make the car better for him… poor him.’ Sorry, it’s been five years of that, no. You’re in F1. Maybe you make that effort for Lewis Hamilton who has won multiple championships.

“You don’t make that effort for a driver who can’t cut it. If you can’t cut it, go home, there’s someone else to take your place. That is how it has always been in racing, this is the pinnacle of the sport. There is no reason to keep going and keep finding excuses.

“And you all talk about that first season, or first two seasons. He was beating a Vettel that was burnt out, that was trying to invent things with the car to go and win, and just making a mess of his weekend.

“And then he was beating, for half a season, Verstappen when Verstappen was 18 years old just starting. And then that was it. He stopped beating anyone after that.”

Despite the protests of Villeneuve, Ricciardo is expected to stay in F1 for at least another season. As explained by Helmut Marko himself, Tsunoda’s place is secure, and VCARB’s Australian star will rival Liam Lawson for the second seat in Faenza.