F1 fans take hilarious shots at ‘VILLAIN’ Daniel Ricciardo after the Aussie star took out rival on his way to stunning seventh-placed finish at the Mexico Grand Prix
The internet can be a cruel and funny place, as Formula One drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda are finding out today after the Aussie enjoyed a huge resurgence to finish seventh at the Mexican Grand Prix.
After a horror year that saw the Perth-born star tumble out of contention, battle with McLaren and ultimately lose his spot on the team to fellow Australian Oscar Piastri, Ricciardo exorcised his frustrations with a stunning drive at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
Ricciardo was all smiles in Mexico and re-discovered some of his best form and aggression to claim seventh place and Driver of the Day honours
He brought back his trademark aggression to rediscover some of his best form and earn the Driver of the Day honour – but there was collateral damage as he Ricciardo copped a hefty 10-second penalty for colliding heavily with the Japanese driver as they battled for 11th place.
The cars collided and the Alpha Tauri driver was taken out of the race, screaming ‘What the f*** is he doing?’ into his radio moments after the crash.
It fired Ricciardo up, with the Aussie turning in his best stint of the year as he overtook almost at will to make up for the lost time.
F1 fans have taken to social media to comment on the incident, with some labelling Ricciardo a pantomime villain and others comparing to him to Lightning McQueen from the Cars kids’ movies – and his famous line ‘I am speed’.
While the Alpha Tauri driver might not be happy with Ricciardo right now, the fans sure are – with the Aussie voted the Driver of the Day by F1 supporters for the first time since Italy in 2021.
Despite dropping to 13th after the first lap, Ricciardo managed to finish two places ahead of McLaren stablemate Lando Norris, leaving his fans in raptures.
‘Great race by honey badger. Give him a decent car and strategy – he’ll beat most easily,’ one fan posted.
’10 seconds won’t even matter for Danny. What a drive from the Honey Badger,’ said another.
‘A random dude LITERALLY payed for our entire tab because we were crying of excitement over @danielricciardo,’ one lucky punter wrote.
Other F1 fans were quick to grumble about how ‘villain’ Ricciardo had ended Tsunoda’s race and questioned how he could get the Driver of the Day votes.
‘Yuki was not amused,’ one fan posted.
‘Takes Tsunoda clean out of the race and wins driver of the day? Don’t you mean ‘twat’ of the day?’ another fan asked.
Ricciardo had little difficulty with the McLaren that has been an issue for him this season and was overtaking with ease in the second half of the race
However, Ricciardo and F1 legend Martin Brundle said the 10-second penalty was too harsh.
‘You never want contact to the point where the guy goes off [the track] but I just saw a replay and I don’t feel as bad about it now,’ the Aussie said after the race.
‘I thought five [seconds] would have been OK.’
‘Ten seconds, I thought that was quite harsh for that. Five seconds seemed fair,’ Brundle said on Sky Sports’ coverage.
‘It was clear though that Daniel was at fault. He needed to be alongside Tsunoda or get out of the way earlier.’
