In what appears to be another indicator of the precarious state of Daniel Ricciardo's career in Formula 1, Dr. Helmut Marko has chosen not to criticize Jacques Villeneuve for his remarks.
Villeneuve, the vocal 1997 F1 world champion, made headlines in Montreal and around the world by stating that he believes Ricciardo remains in F1 solely for his "image" and not due to his racing results or speed.
In response, Ricciardo sharply retorted with "eat sh*t" and questioned if Villeneuve "hit has head a few too many times."
Amidst this backdrop, the possibility of Ricciardo's departure from the Red Bull family at the year's end looms larger, particularly following the announcement that Yuki Tsunoda will remain with the junior team, RB, next year, without any reference to Ricciardo's future.
When probed about Villeneuve's accuracy regarding Ricciardo, Red Bull's senior F1 consultant, Dr. Marko, told Le Journal de Montreal: "I didn't hear his comment."
"But Daniel had to beat Yuki at Racing Bulls. This year, that is not the case. It is rather the opposite thing that is happening," the 81-year-old elaborated.
"Yuki is an emotional driver but now he manages to limit his mistakes. He was in demand by other teams. He is young and he fits our mould. That's why we've just extended his contract for another year," Marko further explained.
Dr. Marko also responded to queries from the local newspaper regarding Canadian racer Lance Stroll, whose future with his father Lawrence's Aston Martin team is currently uncertain.
"He's had some very good races and some very ordinary ones," Marko observed.
"I wonder if he really wants to be a driver and if he works very hard to achieve good results. But it's difficult to say, because I don't know him well enough and I'm not close to him to really judge his efforts," Marko added.
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