The worst driver moves in F1 history: Daniel Ricciardo to Jacques Villeneuve

Deciding where to race next can be a tricky task for a driver and while sometimes they get it right, they can also get it very wrong.

The career of Daniel Ricciardo has been thrust into the limelight this week after comments made by Jacques Villeneuve but both drivers feature on this list:

The worst driver moves in F1 history

Daniel Ricciardo to McLaren (2021)

When looking back on Daniel Ricciardo’s career many doubt his decision to leave Red Bull and join Renault in 2019 but it was actually his move to McLaren that was a mistake.

While it is there to be argued that Ricciardo should never have left Red Bull and should have fought for his place at a familiar team with a familiar car, there has been quite a bit of revisionism when it comes to his Renault spell.

With Ricciardo, Renault scored their first podium in nine years and the Australian was fifth in the 2020 Drivers’ standings, a fine effort considering where the Renault team were at that moment in time.

But his move to McLaren was where he came unstuck. There has been a lot of talk about how the car never suited him but unlike his team-mates at Renault, Ricciardo was up against a future world-class talent in Lando Norris.

With Ricciardo being soundly beaten and lacking confidence in the car, he appeared to start to doubt his credentials as an F1 driver and even with a move back to Red Bull in 2023, he has never appeared the same confident driver that he was during his first stint in Milton Keynes and later Renault.

Fernando Alonso to McLaren (2016)

Fernando Alonso’s poor career choices are well known, in fact we’ve even written an article on the subject, but if you had to boil it down to one, you would go for his second stint at McLaren.

After an explosive 2007 season with the team, Alonso left Ferrari to return to McLaren in 2015 but his move coincided with the team entering one of, if not the worst periods in their history.

They may have been powered by Honda once again but their engine and chassis were lacking, frustrating Alonso to the point of retirement in 2019. It is fair to say, Alonso wasted his peak years in an uncompetitive team rooted at the bottom of the standings.

Jacques Villeneuve to BAR (1998)

Jacques Villeneuve has been in the news of late for questioning Ricciardo’s decisions but his own record is not completely clean.

The Canadian had an unusual F1 career in that he joined a title-winning team to start and his 1997 championship was undoubtedly the highlight of his time in the sport. What came next was very much a lowlight.

With Williams benign surpassed by Ferrari and McLaren, Villeneuve had been enticed by the big-talking British American Racing project which had largely been moulded to secure his signature.

Although McLaren’s Adrian Newey rang Villeneuve to convince him to join the Woking outfit, the 1997 champion rejected the move as he believed BAR was his best shot at fighting for wins again.

“I have told every journalist who covers F1 racing in recent weeks that I would go with a team that would allow me to compete at the front of the grid,” Villeneuve said at the time. “I know from experience that Adrian [Reynard] and his people can produce a very competitive package, and I am very comfortable with the new Supertec Sport engine.

“Most importantly, I am very happy to be back with Craig, Adrian and Rick [Gorne] on what is shaping up to be the team of the future. We all share the same philosophy of racing.”

Unfortunately, the dream that was sold to Villeneuve did not become a reality. In five seasons with BAR, Villeneuve managed just two podiums, 15 points finishes and a total of 39 points, less than half what he scored in 1997 alone.

His F1 career ended with a whimper, retiring in 2006, and Villeneuve may well have been a multiple World Champion if he did accept Newey’s offer.

More from F1’s history

Five great F1 career moves: Hamilton to Mercedes, Schumacher to Ferrari and more

Five shocking F1 driver moves that turned out for the better

Jean Alesi to Ferrari (1991)

While Villeneuve made a mistake leaving Williams, Jean Alesi made a mistake in not joining them.

In 1990, Alesi had just finished ninth in his first full season with Tyrrell and was looking like one of the best talents for the future which gave him a number of suitors for the 1991 season.

Of the teams, it was Williams and Ferrari who courted him most and the former even managed to get his signature on a contract but when Ferrari came calling, Alesi – the son of Italian parents – was pulled in.

In his defence, it may not have been a move made just by the heart as Ferrari had challenged for the title with Alain Prost the season before while Williams ended 1990 in fourth.

But unfortunately, that was the last time for a number of years that Ferrari would be ahead of Williams. As the Italian team’s fortunes fell, Williams rose dramatically and 1991’s FW14 became the best car on the grid by the end of the year.

Williams won the title in 1992 and 1993 with Damon Hill and Prost while Alesi finished seventh and sixth. In 1996, he swapped with Michael Schumacher to join Benetton and also joined them just as they began to fall down the pecking order.

Sebastian Vettel’s retirement (2023)

This one is a little different in that it does not involve a team swap but Sebastian Vettel’s choice to retire when he did will be one of those great what ifs moments.

At the age of 35, Vettel certainly had many more years to give but looked increasingly like he was tired of the sport he joined in 2007.

From a competitiveness point of view, it was understandable. Having finished his last season at Ferrari in 13th, his first year at Aston saw him end 12th.

He matched his one podium of 2020 with the same in 2021 but zero in 2022 meant he recorded a podium-less season for the first time since 2007.

With Aston’s fortunes not hugely improving after the new regulations of 2022, Vettel left the sport with Alonso coming in to replace him but it could be argued Alonso enjoyed the fruits of Vettel’s labour.

The 2023 Aston car shot them up the order, making them the second most competitive at the start of the year, and Alonso finished fourth in the standings.

Whether this upturn in performance would have convinced Vettel to stay, only he knows, but he must wonder what would have happened if he had been the one in the AMR23 and not Alonso.

Nigel Mansell to McLaren (1995)

Nigel Mansell is certainly not a driver adverse to making questionable career decisions. A spat with Frank Williams saw him leave the team having just won the title but after his second stint in Grove, he then left for McLaren in 1995.

But even his arrival was met with some tension. According to legend, title sponsor Marlboro wanted a World Champion while McLaren and engine provider Mercedes wanted a lower-profile driver. In the end, Marlboro won out.

The season did not get off to a great start with Mansell unable to fit into the car for the first race but even then his spell did not last long.

He raced just two times for McLaren, failing to score a point before retiring for good.

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