Jacques Villeneuve gave a scathing critique of Daniel Ricciardo's career in Formula 1 and questioned why a strong midfield team like Alpine would want to sign the Australian.
Ricciardo is an eight-time race winner and has plenty of experience across spells with HRT, Red Bull, Renault and McLaren. But his career has stalled somewhat in recent seasons, especially with his current team with whom he has struggled to fully fit in.
Difficulties getting to grips with his McLaren car have led to largely underwhelming performances and results, despite his best efforts. And although his experience and race craft are unquestioned by many, the Aussie may find it tough to secure a seat for next year.
One of the remaining available seats is at Alpine, but Villeneuve is not surprised that Ricciardo is not believed to be a front-runner for that spot. Speaking at Monza last weekend, the 1997 F1 champion expressed his belief that the Enstone outfit can do far better.
"He's done two awful years at Renault, two even worse years at McLaren, that's four years and how long has he been in F1 total?" said the Canadian. "Almost half his F1 career has been bad and that's when he's had experience, so there's no reason, especially for a team he has already driven for.
"It looks like the modern cars don't suit his driving style because he was impressive at Red Bull, he did some amazing overtaking, he was ahead of Max [Verstappen] but Max was new to F1 and by the end of the season Max was starting to get the better of him and that's when he switched.
"Something happened in the switch that just didn't work for him and he hasn't recovered." Villeneuve is also not convinced by Alpine's first choice, Pierre Gasly, who he says would be a "strange" signing that "doesn't make sense".
Instead, he believes Alpine should promoted one of their younger drivers, F2 star Jack Doohan, to the race seat. Also Australian, he is the son of former motorcyclist Mick Doohan and could be an exciting addition to their line-up alongside Esteban Ocon.
Villeneuve continued: "Why not take a chance with Doohan? Instead of spending a year preparing him like they did with Piastri, just put him in the deep end and see what happens. Doohan comes with a good background – like [Carlos] Sainz, that really gets the right mindset to be at the top level and survive under pressure."
