Daniel Ricciardo was left less than happy with Jacques Villeneuve after hearing what the former F1 world champion said about him at the Canadian Grand Prix.
Ricciardo qualified in a season-best fifth place at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on Saturday, out-qualifying RB team-mate Yuki Tsunoda for the second time in nine races this season.
The Australian was under two tenths away from pole position, and finished ahead of seventh-placed Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes.
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His performance arrived a day after Villeneuve, the 1997 world champion and one-time Indy 500 winner, delivered a brutal analysis of the 34-year-old while working for Sky Sports.
The Canadian asked: "Why is he still in F1?
"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'. There's been five years of that.
"No. You're in F1. Maybe you make that effort for Lewis Hamilton, who has won multiple world championships. You don't make that effort for a driver that can't cut it.
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"If you can't cut it, you go home, there's someone to take your place. It's always been in racing, it's the pinnacle of the sport. There's no reason to keep going and keep finding excuses.
"He was beating a Vettel that was burnt out, that was trying to invent things with the car to go and win and was making a mess of his weekends.
"He was beating Verstappen for half of a season, when he 18 years old and just starting. That was it. He stopped beating anyone after that.
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"I think it's his image that has kept him in F1 more than his actual results."
After qualifying P5, Ricciardo was unsurprisingly asked about comments from certain critics - and came out firing.
"I've just been told, I don't listen or read, but yeah there's some people out there who... I won't give them the time of day," he began.
"Top five, I've been quick all weekend, less than two tenths from pole. So they can eat s**t.
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"I think this year hasn't really been a question of whether I've still got the speed to do it, it's just the consistency. I haven't been able to show it week in, week out.
"It's definitely been more of a struggle than I thought. But I know the speed's there, it's just tapping into it. I look at myself first.
"You always try and fine-tune the car, but I feel like it's more about getting myself in that sweet point.
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"Maybe 10 years ago, it came easier. Maybe as a kid, you just jump in and drive. As the older you get, the more things that are around your life and you're involved in can maybe interfere.
"It's trying to acknowledge that, and making sure I'm coming into the weekend with a clear head and ready to go.
"It's exactly 10 years to the day that I won my first race. We've changed a few things since Monaco and tried to get it together, so it's nice to get it done today."
Topics: Daniel Ricciardo, Formula 1, F1
Ryan Smart