Ricciardo and Villeneuve engaged in a public slanging match through the media over the Canadian Grand Prix.

The 1997 world champion was part of the Sky Sports broadcast team for the weekend and offered a forthright appraisal of the RB driver.

“Why is he still in F1,” Villeneuve questioned.

“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’.

“Sorry. It’s been 5 years of that. No. You’re in F1.

“Maybe you make that effort for a Lewis Hamilton, who’s won multiple championships, you don’t make that effort for a driver that can’t cut it.”

Ricciardo responded at the time by suggesting Villeneuve had “hit his head a few too many times.”

The criticisms came as Ricciardo endured an early-season slump, being consistently out-performed by team-mate Yuki Tsunoda.

Ironically, the Canadian GP weekend proved a positive one for the Australian, who qualified fifth and delivered four points in eighth come Sunday’s race.

“In Montreal, Jacques was talking some stuff and there were a few things where I had a chip on my shoulder,” Ricciardo told Mirror Sport while reflecting on the Canadian GP weekend.

“I was like, ‘Alright, if you guys want to test me, let’s go’. I think I responded well to some of that.

“Normally I don’t read it, but the team makes you aware of it, to prepare me for things that have been said.

“It does work me up… this is a world champion as well, in Jacques’ case, it’s someone who knows the sport.

“I could comment on other drivers and be like, ‘Yeah, he’s gone through a rough patch’, but I would never talk shit about someone because I can relate and I know what they’ve gone through.

“No-one can strap themselves and do this, it’s such a rare sport.

More on the war of words between Jacques Villeneuve and Daniel Ricciardo

🟢  Ricciardo hits back at ‘shit talking’ Villeneuve
🟢  F1 world champ issues scathing Daniel Ricciardo criticism

“I was more disappointed, but I thought, ‘If some people think that way, time for me to remind them that I’m still here’.

“I used it to my advantage, but it’s fine. I know people have opinions. I just thought, ‘Don’t get agitated, get motivated’.”

The Canadian event was followed by the Spanish GP, where an upgrade package proved to be a downgrade.

That compromised the Austrian Grand Prix and, to an extent, the British GP too as engineers worked to understand the issue.

In Hungary, Ricciardo was critical of the squad for a race strategy he felt cost him any chance of points.

Following 10th in the Belgian GP, the 35-year-old headed to Imola for a filming day – originally billed as a shootout between Ricciardo and Liam Lawson to replace Sergio Perez at Red Bull Racing.

However, it was revealed earlier that week that Perez would remain alongside Max Verstappen for the moment, with Ricciardo understood to be safe at RB until the end of the year.

For now, the eight-time race winner remains without a contract for 2025; the only one of Red Bull’s four current race drivers in that position.