McLaren driver Daniel Ricciardo has only a couple of races left before ending his stint with the team and perhaps even Formula 1 in general, although a reserve seat role with Mercedes has been touted for next season.
His mannerisms on a talk show titled ‘Your Mom’s House’ where he made a guest appearance, possibly recorded some time around the United States Grand Prix in Austin, has left a lot of people rather unhappy.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff is known to be a big fan of Ricciardo and this could work in the favour of the Australian. The need for a reserve driver has come due to both Nyck de Vries and Stoffel Vandoorne securing roles at other constructors.
Ricciardo himself confirmed his desire to return to the sport in a full-time role as early as 2024 during the interview in the Your Mom’s House podcast.
“I’m not gonna race next year, I’m not gonna race F1,” he said.
“My eyes are certainly still set on F1.
“But with everything that’s gone on, I need the time off. I think the way the contracts and everything shapes up, I think 2024 is potentially smarter as well for me to set my eyes on that and then get the time off to just reset and rebuild.”
Although the podcast falls under the comedy genre, some of the views shared by the hosts Tom Segura and Christina Pazsitzky have been seen as extremely offensive to women.
Why are fans frustrated with Ricciardo?
In an open Q&A round with fans, a question was asked about which country’s women go “craziest” when it comes to F1 drivers.
The hosts responded with a number of sexist and misogynistic comments aimed at Eastern European women and what was most disappointing for fans was the manner in which Ricciardo laughed along with the jokes.
The fact that Ricciardo has been such a popular figure among the sport’s fans made his reaction even more frustrating and offensive.
It may even lead to Mercedes reconsidering its position on the driver, with fan reputation proving such a pivotal element in deciding a team’s line-up.
The hosts predicted that F1 drivers get “top knot s**t” and Ricciardo was seen blatantly laughing at this suggestion.
This clip has been circulated quite widely on social media and fans have berated Ricciardo.
“Glad to know that I’m as Eastern European woman is a whore according to the hosts of ‘Your Mom’s House’ podcast, and nice to know that Daniel Ricciardo thinks that sexist jokes are okay and funny,” one user wrote.
Ricciardo is yet to formally release any apology regarding the clip, with thousands of fans disappointed in his participation and reaction to these sexist comments.
You can check out the entire interview here-
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