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Former F1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve feels Daniel Ricciardo is more or less a product of his image and social media. The Australian has been in F1 for more than a decade and started his career with Torro Rosso. In 2014, he got the jump to the senior team and replaced Mark Webber.
In his very first year with Red Bull, Riccardo impressed everyone, as he ended up winning three races and outscoring Sebastian Vettel. The driver's profile continued to grow with the team as he became a mainstay at the front. His popularity did, however, grow to a completely different level when Netflix Drive to Survive was launched.
He departed Red Bull in 2018, and joined Renault for two years, only to move to McLaren, where he was fired after a two-year stint. Daniel Ricciardo finds himself back at RB this season, as the Austrian parent brand wants to assess where he would fit on the grid after all these years.
If he does well in 2024, there is a possibility that the Australian could get a seat on the senior team as well. Jacques Villeneuve, however, is very blunt in his opinion, as he feels that Ricciardo was nothing more than a product of image and social media. While he is good, his longevity does not stack up with his results.
The 1997 World Champion told betideas.com:
"Ricciardo is a pure product of image and modern social media. You can’t base his long career on results. You just can’t. They don’t stack up. It is amazing. He can thank Netflix and all that kind of stuff. His smile, his attitude in the paddock in front of the camera. Ultimately even against [Yuki] Tsunoda he doesn’t do brilliantly."
He added:
"But he brings value to F1 and that’s why he is there. There are many drivers who are as quick as him but don’t have his image. So, you might as well take the one with the image.”
"I certainly see myself as a race car driver, not an entertainer" - Daniel Ricciardo
Daniel Ricciardo was questioned recently by La Gazzetta about whether he viewed himself as an entertainer. In reply, the driver refuted these suggestions. The Australian feels that the profile of every driver has grown since Drive to Survive, and he was not the only one.
“I would say, in short, no, I think, look, we’ve all certainly…. all of our profiles have grown, in the last few years, in particular, since Drive to Survive. So we’ve all kind of felt a bit of that. I think just me with my personality, and also just having some fun with the sport," Ricciardo said.
He added:
"Yeah, that probably got a little bigger as well, because of that. It draws a few LOLs every now and then but I think generally, first and foremost, I certainly see myself as a race car driver, not an entertainer or anything like that."
With all that being said, one cannot deny that Daniel Ricciardo is in line to replace Sergio Perez at Red Bull if he does put together a great season.
