F1 digest: Max Verstappen not as good as Daniel Ricciardo says Jacques Villeneuve

Former champion has his say on the Red Bull
duo and Kimi Raikkonen wants to stay with Ferrari

One-Minute Read

Twenty-year-old Verstappen has been involved in a number of
incidents so far this season including a crash in practice that
forced him out of qualifying and left him starting the Monaco Grand
Prix from the back of the grid.

Meanwhile at the other end of the grid Ricciardo dominated
practice and qualifying and secured an impressive victory for Red
Bull on the streets of Monte Carlo last weekend.

Villeneuve, who won the F1 championship in 1997, told Sky
Italia: “Verstappen makes mistakes in every race. It happens all
the time. It’s a bad sign. For example, Ricciardo was not at all to
blame for their crash in Baku. He did nothing wrong.

“If a driver is constantly making mistakes, he must calm down
and slow down. But to be at Ricciardo’s level, he has to take more
risks. It can only mean one thing: Max is not as good as Daniel.
Full stop.” (Wheels 24 via Sky Italia)

Kimi keen to stay at Ferrari

Kimi Raikkonen’s contract with Ferrari expires at the end
of the season but the Finnish driver hopes to extend his stay with
the Italian team.

There has been speculation about Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo or
Sauber’s Charles Leclerc being lined up to partner Sebastian Vettel
at Ferrari next season.

Raikkonen said: “It’s not me who decides, it depends on what the
team want. They know exactly what I want. I wouldn’t be in Formula
1 if I didn’t enjoy this. I don’t have to show anything anymore.”
(Sky Sports)

Dirk De Beer steps down at Williams

Williams’s head of aerodynamics Dirk De Beer has stepped
down from the F1 team after their poor start to the 2018
season. A reshuffle will see Doug McKiernan “assume
responsibility” for the aerodynamic and design direction of the
Williams FW41 car and Dave Wheater is named as head of
aerodynamics. Williams have only won four points from six races.
(Sky Sports)