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Former F1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve reckons Alpine won't be interested in signing Daniel Ricciardo because he has not been good enough for most of his career.
During F1 TV's post-race show after the Italian GP in Monza last weekend, Villenueve said that the possibility of Alpine being interested in signing Ricciardo appears slim. That's because the Australian had not had a good season in a long time, so he does not deserve a look-in from the French team.
He said that Ricciardo's indifferent stints with Renault and McLaren doesn't augur well for his hopes of re-signing with Alpine.
"He’s done two awful years at Renault, two even worse years at McLaren, that’s four years and how long has he been in F1 total," said Villeneuve. "Almost half his F1 career has been bad, and that’s when he’s had experience, so there’s no reason, especially for a team he has already driven for."
Villeneuve added that Ricciardo was quite impressive during his Red Bull days, but his driving style is incompatible with modern F1 cars. He also added that Ricciardo's subsequent moves didn't turn out to be frutiful, saying:
“It looks like the modern cars don’t suit his driving style because he was impressive at Red Bull, he did some amazing overtaking, he was ahead of Max (Verstappen). But Max was new to F1. and by the end of the season, Max was starting to get the better of him, and that’s when he switched. Something happened in the switch that just didn’t work for him, and he hasn’t recovered.”
Other than Ricciardo, there are reports of Alpine's interest in Pierre Gasly as well. The AlphaTauri driver will have to be first released by Red Bull before he can get a seat at Alpine, though.
Villeneuve doesn't see that happening, though, as the team already have a French driver. Moroever, Esteban Ocon and Gasly don't seem to get along well. He said:
"That’s a strange one, they already have a French driver. The two (Gasly and Ocon) don’t get along, so don’t put them together, and he’s under contract, and you have to move mountains to get him, so it doesn’t make sense. And Gasly hasn’t had a very good season in general.”
Gasly is 11th in the driver standings, having garnered only 22 points all season. Meanwhile, Ricciardio is three places behind the Frenchman, with 19 points.
Villeneuve identifies Daniel Ricciardo's Australian counterpart as next Alpine driver
Jacques Villeneuve thinks thought instead of poaching drivers from other teams, Alpine need to back the youngster present in their ranks.
Villeneuve said that Ricciardo's counterpart Jack Doohan, an F2 racer, should be given an opportunity next season.
Doohan is the son of the Australian motorcycle legend Mick Doohan and has been impressive in his first season in F2. Villeneuve said:
“Why not take a chance with Doohan? Instead of spending a year preparing him, like they did with Piastri, just put him in the deep end, and see what happens. Doohan comes with a good background – like Sainz, that really gets the right mindset to be at the top level and survive under pressure.”
Considering the plethora of options available for Alpine, it will be interesting to see who gets the nod as the team's second driver next season.
