Villeneuve teed off at Ricciardo over the Canadian Grand Prix, questioning his position on the grid as he offered a blunt appraisal of the Australian.

The RB driver responded by suggesting the 1997 world champion was “talking shit” and had suffered too many hits on the head.

It didn’t end there with Villeneuve lambasting Ricciardo for making the matter personal.

The 53-year-old, who beat Michael Schumacher to the title in 1997 while racing for Williams, was part of the Sky Sports broadcast team in Canada, working alongside Brundle.

Reflecting on the weekend in a column for the Sky Sports F1 website, the ex-F1 racer noted the exchange that captured headlines.

“For the record, as it’s become a hot topic due to my Sky Sports F1 colleague Jacques Villeneuve expressing his firm opinions, I have fundamental respect for all F1 drivers, not least for Daniel and Jacques, because I know how hard it is to drive such fearsome cars under that spotlight,” Brundle wrote.

“Daniel has won eight GPs including an outstanding Monaco victory, scored 32 podiums, and has regularly shown world-class talent.

“But those results were quite a while ago and I wish he’d not left Red Bull at the end of 2018.

“That was an emotional and flawed decision, he should have faced up to Max in the best car, then he’d have necessarily raised his game even further.

“Ricciardo never seemed to be quite the same driver again,” he added.

“He clearly still does have speed and race craft, as we witnessed also in the Miami Sprint, but something in his psyche or approach is holding that back and it’s costing him opportunity and longevity.”

Ricciardo currently is without a race contract for 2025.

Heading into the Canadian Grand Prix weekend, Red Bull Racing confirmed Sergio Perez had agreed a new deal, understood to be a one-plus-one arrangement.

Just prior to qualifying, RB announced Yuki Tsunoda would remain with the squad for 2025.

Ricciardo finished eighth in Canada, his best result of the season, after qualifying fifth.