Ricciardo apologises for F1 social media ‘f***ing idiots’ comment

Daniel Ricciardo has apologised for his choice of language when criticising the way Formula 1 continues to emphasise the use of crash footage across its various social media channels.

In an interview released after the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix with Square Mile, Ricciardo was vocal about F1’s decision to promote crash footage on social media. 

The Australian was also very critical of F1’s decision to show replays of Romain Grosjean’s dramatic crash at last season's Bahrain Grand Prix.

While Ricciardo still stands by his opinion, the McLaren driver apologised for the way he phrased his criticism.

“I don’t think I ever said that,” Ricciardo said ahead of this weekend's race at Imola. “I certainly have to be better with my choice of words. If I could take that quote back, I would. It was too aggressive.

“I should know better as well being in the sport as long as I have. And even if I feel at the time that it might be out of context, I know that it is going to get pushed. So I should do better with that.”

2020 was an unpredictable season with Pierre Gasly taking his maiden win for AlphaTauri, while Racing Point (now Aston Martin), Renault (now Alpine) and McLaren enjoyed trips to the podium.

Ricciardo feels F1 should be promoting its positive storylines, rather than crashes and incidents.

“Taking that direct comment away from it, I guess what I’m trying to get at is that I feel like…last year as an example,” Ricciardo added. “I felt last year was such an amazing year for F1. There were so many different podium getters, there were a lot of exciting races. I certainly would not put it under a boring season.

“I just felt like there was probably more room to expose the highs of the sport. And the great achievements of a lot of individual drivers and individual performances, whether some spectacular overtakes, I felt that there were better stories to be told as opposed to just crashes.

“This is obviously my opinion but I feel that our sport is better than that. I feel that we are better than just showing crashes. Whether it is other categories or types of sports or disciplines to show I would say that level of highlights. I feel that we are above that.

“I feel that we are the most talented drivers in the world, and we are driving these amazing cars. So normally a crash is showing less of our talents.”

Ricciardo concluded his response by confirming he had apologised: “We absolutely make mistakes but I would probably highlight the highs more if I had creative control. I don’t know if every other driver feels like that, but obviously, it is how I feel.

“I would if I could… I have apologized, but I would take back at least the language from those comments. That was overall my opinion of what I would do if I had a chance to direct it a little bit.”