Villeneuve criticizes Räikkönen and thinks that Vettel is “finished” at Red Bull

Never shy of making bold statements, Jacques Villeneuve, the 1997 Formula 1 World Champion and currently a consultant for Grand Prix coverage on Canal +, responded to questions from the Italian site *Omnicorse*. The Quebec native doesn’t spare Kimi Räikkönen and believes that Red Bull is rejecting Sebastian Vettel.

Räikkönen « has no right to make excuses »

Regarding the Finn, first of all, Jacques Villeneuve believes that his return to Ferrari, and even more, his return to F1 are astonishing, especially since he had left the Scuderia and the top discipline in 2009 through the back door: « Who would have imagined his return to F1, to begin with? Who would have imagined he would return to Ferrari? No one, and yet, he is in Maranello. »

But it’s at the start of the season /f1/actualite/17857-les-difficultes-saccumulent-pour-kimi-raikkonen.html that the Canadian is very critical: For him, it’s all or nothing when he hits the gas. He spun around as if he were in Formula 3, he says, before adding: If he can no longer drive in F1, he should go home. He’s a very experienced driver, so he shouldn’t be making excuses at every Grand Prix like a rookie.

Since the beginning of this year, Kimi Räikkönen has been regularly complaining about difficulties in setting up his Ferrari F14-T. However, according to Villeneuve, these are just excuses: « He should take two or three races to change his driving style, and if he can’t, it’s a problem. You can’t keep going like this when you are a world champion. You are not allowed to make excuses. »

Red Bull wants to kill Vettel

Asked then about Sebastian Vettel’s situation, once again struggling in Austria due to a disappointing qualification and a technical issue at the start of the race, the former Williams and BAR driver believes he no longer has the unconditional support of his team: « He is a four-time world champion, but now Red Bull treats him like they treated Mark Webber. They seem to have decided to focus on Daniel Ricciardo. » Then, Jacques Villeneuve asserted: « From now on, Red Bull wants to “kill” Sebastian because he is not good for Red Bull’s image. »

In these conditions, should a departure be considered for the number 1 driver? « Of course. He cannot stay another season under these circumstances. Even Helmut Marko has started to criticize him. When you lose control of the team and politics starts to weigh heavily, you’re finished. [Red Bull] is always in pursuit of something new. They have Ricciardo who is performing well and they are focusing on him. Vettel is finished: he needs to change teams… »