Jacques Villeneuve has never been shy about calling out what he sees as nonsense, and the Canadian has expressed his disbelief at Red Bull’s praise for Yuki Tsunoda’s efforts in last weekend’s Mexico City Grand Prix.
The Japanese driver failed to make the Q3 shootout on Saturday and wound up out of the points on race day at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, although a botched strategy and a poorly executed pitstop significantly contributed to Tsunoda’s fate.
For Red Bull team boss Laurent Mekies, the performance was cause for commendation, the Frenchman describing Tsunoda’s efforts as “his best weekend in a long time”. But Villeneuve wasn’t buying the spin.
“I don't understand how a team can say, ‘Oh, he's had a good weekend’. Better than maybe other weekends he's had, but is it a good weekend?” the Canadian candidly questioned, speaking on the Sky Sports F1 Show podcast.
Villeneuve didn’t stop there, doubling down on his withering verdict.
“He's still very far off his team-mate. He's not bringing anything to the table either in pace, points for the team, or helping Max for the championship. And he has a lot of experience.
“We've seen the best of him, he's already on the way down, so it seems that they're overprotecting him for some reason.
“But no, you can't say that was a good weekend. It was maybe his least bad, but it wasn't a good weekend.”
The words “least bad” hang in the air like a hammer drop — a withering verdict on Tsunoda’s supposed “breakthrough” outing.
Experience? Only If You’re Good Enough
Villeneuve went on to dismantle another of Red Bull’s talking points – that Tsunoda’s five seasons in F1 make him a valuable veteran for the team’s looming 2026 reset. To the 1997 world champion, that logic is as flimsy as a wind tunnel model in a hurricane.
“We all talk about, in a situation like this, ‘you need experience’ – and yes, I agree, but you need good experience,” Villeneuve explained.
“It doesn't matter if a driver has 20 years of racing. If he wasn't good or good enough, he still won't be good enough, and he still won't help you to understand the new regulations.
©RedBull
“He still won't help you to develop and test that car, so why would you put a known quantity that you know is not good enough?”
Instead, Villeneuve champions shaking things up.
“In that case, you might as well go for the young rookie or left-field, take someone and take a chance that will bring new energy and a new thought process to the team. What you already have, you know it won't cut it.”
Enter Isack Hadjar, the Racing Bulls star who's already bagged a podium at Zandvoort in his rookie year and sits 10th in the standings with 39 points.
As Red Bull considers it options for 2026, its praise of Tsunoda sounds more like sentimentality than sound judgement, while Villeneuve’s takedown serves as a reality check for a team that’s been too eager to hand out participation trophies to its Japanese contender.
It’s time to get real, Laurent.
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