Daniel Ricciardo’s upgrade in Montreal was about ‘self-therapy’ – not Jacques Villeneuve

There was a point at the end of last year where there was a feeling that Daniel Ricciardo was in line to take Sergio Pérez’s Formula 1 seat at Red Bull for 2025.

Ricciardo made it clear upon his mid-season return with AlphaTauri (now RB) that a return to the Red Bull, the same seat he left in 2018, was his ultimate goal. As Pérez struggled through the second half of the season, suggestions of that happening only increased.

But Ricciardo did very little to publicize his case in early 2024. He was often behind teammate Yuki Tsunoda and, apart from his run to P4 in sprint qualifying and race in Miami, had not achieved a points finish for Canada and sat 14th. in the drivers’ standings. Meanwhile, Pérez performed well enough to secure a contract extension through 2026, ending Ricciardo’s hopes of moving up in the near future.

After Pérez’s confirmation, Ricciardo acknowledged that he “probably had to hold myself accountable because he hadn’t done anything too spectacular this season”. “If you’re trying to fight for a top spot, you have to do some fantastic things,” he said.

By the Canadian Grand PrixRicciardo’s difficult start to the season had changed his aim from fighting for a top seat to fighting for his current seat.

No one went further in questioning Ricciardo’s future than Jacques Villeneuve, the 1997 F1 world champion who was part of the Sky Sports broadcast team for his home race in Montreal.

“Why is he still here?” Speaking about Ricciardo, Villeneuve asked why he continued to struggle with his cars, stating that “his image has kept him in F1 more than his actual results.” A brutal takedown, which quickly went viral considering how rare it is for an expert to be so candid in an English-language F1 broadcast.

Villeneuve was harsh – perhaps too harsh – but few would dispute the grain of truth in what he said. Ricciardo has been clear all year that he knows he is not doing good enough and that he can deliver many more performances.

Just 24 hours later he found it. In tricky, windy conditions, Ricciardo not only managed to reach Q3 for the second time this season, but also put his RB car fifth on the grid, within two-tenths of pole position. Perfect timing, especially after Tsunoda’s confirmation at RB for 2025 just 90 minutes earlier.

It meant that Ricciardo found himself in the media spotlight with some of his old swagger and sparkle after qualifying. He knew the questions that would come, that Villeneuve’s name would come up. Ricciardo had not fully listened to what was being said about him, he said, only that he ‘heard him talking…’.

“But he always does that,” Ricciardo continued. “I think he hit his head a few too many times, I don’t know if he plays hockey or something. But yeah. Anyway. I don’t give him the time.” Then came a “but…” and leaned close to the microphones: “All those people can suck it! I want to say more, but it’s okay. We leave him behind.”

After all, it was just qualifying. We’d seen flashes like this from Ricciardo in Miami during the sprint, but disappeared when it mattered during the Grand Prix sessions. Nevertheless, this was a perfectly timed backlash to Villeneuve’s criticism.

But a direct link between the two would do Ricciardo a disservice. He revealed that after Monaco he made a concerted effort to try to understand why things weren’t working, going beyond his track performance and data such as braking points or corner speeds. It required us to reach out not only to the team’s management and engineers, but also to the people outside the track, and ask them to be an open book with their feedback.

Ricciardo qualified fifth and finished eighth on a rainy weekend in Montreal. (Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images)

“It was like, OK, what might be some other things that influence my performances?” said Ricciardo. “Do I come into a race weekend without energy or do I not feel this or that?

“I think after Monaco I had a bit of good self-therapy and just sat back and looked at the things I might be doing wrong off the track. Or I give too much of my time to people and by the time I get to race day or something, I’m a little flatter.

“Deep down, I know what I can do, and it just puts me in this place so I can do it more often.”

And make sure those flashes of speed on Sunday become something valuable when it matters. Ricciardo’s Canadian Grand Prix was far from easy, with a crawling car on the starting line – which Ricciardo suspected was due to a clutch problem – prompting a jump start and a five-second penalty. He managed to survive the chaos and took advantage of some late incidents to take four points for P8, almost doubling his total for the season. That alone in the high-pressure conditions felt like a success for Ricciardo.

“Overall, I’m happy,” he said. “It’s hard to be perfect in these races. I made mistakes, it was clear that at times we were just trying to survive. So (I’m) just happy that we got there in the end.

Canada marked the first points-scoring Grand Prix for Ricciardo. (Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images)

The biggest takeaway for Ricciardo from the weekend in Montreal was that things went well from the moment he turned his first laps in FP1 straight into the race. For the first time this season, every session felt positive.

“It’s nice to be competitive from Friday to Sunday,” said Ricciardo. “I’m happy. (I just have to) keep it going.

Ricciardo has time on his side when it comes to proving to Red Bull what he can do and securing an extension at RB. If the company wants to make a change, reserve driver Liam Lawson is ready to step up, as the young Kiwi proved during his five-race stand-in when Ricciardo was injured last year. But there’s no reason yet for the team to make a hasty call.

Ricciardo will hope that Montreal will be a turning point in his season, a breakthrough after the earlier lifts to better understand where he went wrong. Importantly, he also wants to make sure he retains the feeling he brought with him last weekend.

“That little bit of energy, that little bit of shoulder that I brought this weekend should make sure that stays there and keeps that level of intensity,” Ricciardo said.

“Sometimes I’m a little… I don’t know if I should be a little angry or just increase my testosterone. But I think it helps me.”

(Main photo of Daniel Ricciardo: Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images)