An unhappy Yuki Tsunoda made a point of re-passing his team mate after the Bahrain Grand Prix had finished.
Tsunoda locked his tyres as he dived down the inside of Daniel Ricciardo at turn eight as they returned to the pits after taking the chequered flag. He then drove close to his team mate as they approached to turn nine.“What the fuck?” Ricciardo exclaimed as Tsunoda passed him. “Oh, save it.”
Tsunoda expressed his dissatisfaction earlier in the race when he was instructed to let Ricciardo pass him. The pair were running behind Kevin Magnussen at the time, Tsunoda on hard tyres and Ricciardo on softs.
Ricciardo encouraged the team to consider swapping their positions, telling them: “Whatever advantage I have, we lose it.” Soon afterwards he was told: “We will do driver swap this lap”
Tsunoda reacted angrily to being told to give up 13th place to his team mate. After letting Ricciardo through he told the team sarcastically: “Yeah, thanks guys, I appreciate it.”
Asked after the race why Tsunoda had driven so close to his car after the race Ricciardo said: “I don’t know. I came on the radio and was trying to stay cool.”
“I’m being very sensible right now, but let’s call it immaturity,” he told the official F1 channel. “He’s obviously frustrated with the team orders call.
“But let’s be real, this is something we talked about before the race. It was very likely I was going to use a soft at the end of the race. So he knew that there was a chance that I would have a pace advantage at the end and if he gets the call, then it’s going to happen.
“He’s not giving me points, we’re fighting for 13th, so at least give us the best chance to get at least one car in the points.”
This article will be updated
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F1 Fan
2nd March 2024, 17:40
Ricciardo is slower than Tsunoda. That’s my takeaway. If he can’t even outpace Tsunoda, let alone comfortably, he isn’t getting anywhere near that seat. Thanks to Horner, he is in the seat that Lawson should be in.
Time to retire.
Ross
2nd March 2024, 21:35
Tsunoda was 10th after lap one, Dan was what p15 or 16 after the stroll spin. Dan had a better race than Tsunoda, and if Tsu actually listened to the team when they asked dan’s soft tyre would have still had enough life to pass mag. None of this matters as Dan said who cares about p13/14. All this has done is highlight how immature Tsunoda still is, no way he’s getting a RBR seat now after this childish display.
John Cousins (@drone)
2nd March 2024, 22:14
Absolutely correct. Dan’s pace on the softs was great and hauled Yuki in easily. If Yuki had let him past sooner, Dan may have had the pace and life left in his tyres to pass Kevin and Zhou. Selfish behavior by Yuki. Instead, Yuki held him up and then released him in the worst possible position meaning he had to back off for Max and lose 2 seconds on Magnussen. Yuki wasn’t moving up and Dan hauled him in at a serious rate. Dan was quicker today and Yuki didn’t play the team game. Tsunoda is a child who can’t handle his emotions. For those saying they’re both slow… That’s just another case of people being childish. Dan clearly isn’t, as apart from the his Papaya stint, he’s shown he can perform at well and did so multiple times last season with good results in a mediocre car.
Erkr
3rd March 2024, 0:23
Seriously? Daniel was mediocre last year. He was obliterated in race pace by Tsunoda, instead Daniel’s days are numbered
Rhys Lloyd (@justrhysism)
5th March 2024, 4:59
Yeah, okay. Exaggeration much?
PacificPR (@streydt)
3rd March 2024, 6:55
Yuki had a much better pace than Daniel. Yuki was in the mix with Zhou and Stroll for 10th until the 2nd series of pit stops. Instead of following the strategy of Zhou and Stroll, RB left Yuki out far too long and he was undercut by Kevin and got stuck behind him – because of this Yuki lost a lot of time and this gave Daniel (on soft tires) the opportunity to close the gap. So I can understand why Yuki was upset, however it really doesn’t justify his antics after the race (or his comments during) – it’s a shame because it will definitely have an impact on his career or the remote shot on a Red Bull seat.
Imre (@f1mre)
2nd March 2024, 17:43
Daniel “Captain Slow” Ricciardo.
Bertie
2nd March 2024, 17:52
Daniel too slow, Yuki too immature. Neither of them are getting in that Red Bull seat.
Ferdinand
3rd March 2024, 11:23
My thoughts exactly. I would part from them at the end of this season or right away for that matter. They will not bring anything on top of what we have seen from them today.
Adam (@rocketpanda)
2nd March 2024, 17:59
I mean you couldn’t pass Magnussen either my dude and if roles were reversed you’d be just as annoyed being told to jump out the way when you’re under a second behind him.
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
2nd March 2024, 19:44
The thing is, Tsunoda was told to let Ricciardo pass him far sooner than he did. Tsunoda let him past in at the worst time possible and in a poor place on track that cost both of them. The thing that was poor about the timing was that he did is when they both had to back off for verstappen which put ricciardo over 2 seconds behind Magnussen when both of them were within 1 second at times just before this. As ricciardo had fresher tyres, the sooner he got an opportunity the better, and tsunoda was the one to ignore the team here. Ricciardo may well have manged it earlier on. We never know. Ricciardo really quickly closed up that 2 second gap so he did look pretty quick.
Leroy (@g-funk)
2nd March 2024, 18:01
Daniel’s chances for that Red Bull seat are looking less and less likely with each Grand Prix.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
3rd March 2024, 7:23
Agree, neither of the 2 drivers is a candidate: perez is meh, but unless they go get a top driver it’s unlikely his replacement would be significantly closer.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
4th March 2024, 12:08
Tsunoda wouldn’t be acting like a child if he was secure in his knowledge that he was better Daniel. Daniel just needs to show Yuki the red cape and let that dude’s insecurity take over, preferably in to the back of one of his competitors for a race position.
Sam
2nd March 2024, 18:04
Sorry, i mean to say :
Villeneuve is right : Ricciardo is in F1, not because he is quick but because his popularity on social medias helps with F1 gaining more supporters from the masses
PacificPR (@streydt)
2nd March 2024, 18:07
So Mekies has a fine start, ruining the team spirit at the very first opportunity! Well done. RB ruined Yuki’s race when they didn’t follow the strategy of Zhou and Stroll and spoiled the (small) chance for a point.
Osnola
2nd March 2024, 18:36
Agreed, it was a bad “team” decision .
MichaelN
2nd March 2024, 21:26
Given Mekies’ antics at Ferrari, is anyone surprised?
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
3rd March 2024, 7:23
I’m not!
Kringle
2nd March 2024, 18:08
I’d like to say well done to KMag instead of trash talking Minardi.
BasCB (@bascb)
2nd March 2024, 18:56
Yeah, had a really solid drive and good defensive driving for those last approximately 10 laps.
Bosco Moroz
2nd March 2024, 23:36
To me the story of the race was Haas, what a step, last year, no way KMag’s fighting late in race like that. To me, they made the biggest gains in the off season, clearly terrible last year in races, today they looked so much stronger.
Who knows, they may be back to stealing points again? Ferrari engine looked decent in both teams too. Lewis and Toto, gotta love them, But Toto said it quite clearly, it’s not Red Bull, it’s Max who’s miles ahead. Without Max, Redbull probably don’t win much of anything last 3 years.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
3rd March 2024, 7:25
What you and wolff don’t take into consideration is: is it normal that leclerc, sainz, russell, hamilton, norris, piastri can’t beat perez? If not, then red bull is miles ahead, if a B driver beats top drivers something is amiss.
Jim from US (@jimfromus)
2nd March 2024, 18:38
Both drivers are pathetic. Pass the car in front of you if you’re faster not whine to the team to be let by. Same goes for all teams and teammates that will be whining this year.
Edvaldo
2nd March 2024, 18:46
Red Bull can’t stand Tsunoda, that’s clear.
Both weren’t in contetion for points, so why they did this? Tsunoda has every reason to be fuming.
And Ricciardo is obviously the company man here, he won’t take a second of his time to understand why Tsunoda was unhappy with how they handled this race.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
3rd March 2024, 6:14
Yuki is a spoiled driver. You look at some of these drivers who over-react and you can tell they are not applying themselves 100% not even close, you don’t have that kind of energy or attitude when you are dead on in the zone, there is no room for that kind of petulance, its pure waste.
Dan just needs to destroy Yuki and never look back, **** HRC, they have no pull in that garage anymore, just destroy Yuki round after round until there is no question. Make him look like the ick at the bottom of someone’s foot.
Jere (@jerejj)
2nd March 2024, 19:25
While I can understand Tsunoda’s frustration, attempting to race on a cooldown lap was indeed immature, not to mention risky with marshals possibly standing on the track edge, & all these over a battle for non-scoring positions.
Tristan
2nd March 2024, 19:39
Neither were in the points so much ado about nothing.
It’s sad from Yuki, he seems to be unable to regulate his emotions. This isn’t the first time.
Mr Squiggle
3rd March 2024, 4:13
I’m ready to stand corrected if I’m wrong, but I thought finishing positions play a role in countback situations, ie when two teams are on level points. Even when the positions are outside the top 10….
RBAlonso (@rbalonso)
3rd March 2024, 8:18
The team finished with the same positions that they would have.
t1redmonkey (@t1redmonkey)
2nd March 2024, 20:06
Let’s be honest, they’re both very lucky to still be in F1, neither really deserve their seats on merit. Ricciardo one of the most over-rated drivers in recent memory, mainly there for his marketability. Tsunoda only there because of his ties with Honda. Hopefully get two new guys in 2025.
MichaelN
2nd March 2024, 21:33
Yeah, it’s one thing to use car #3 and #4 to bring talent into the sport but the way Red Bull is running this team now it’s just all the more objectionable. An obligatory Japanese guy and a(n alleged) funny guy that’s 10 years past his best. What’s the point? Just leave, and let Andretti take the spot. They might do worse, but at least it’ll be a real team.
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
2nd March 2024, 22:01
Well, this kind of even performance is the kiss of death for both. They will have the same fate as Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Algersuari. 2 drivers with the same pace in a lower team means 2 unexceptional drivers.
Honda
2nd March 2024, 23:27
Yuki got screwed. He was comfortably around P10 for the most of the race but somehow ended P14 with no fault of his. RB though have a clear bias Ricciardo it is not just CH. Yuki has backing of Honda but they have no control over the team, he needs to get along well with the RB management or he could be in trouble, now that Franz Tost has retired. I remember last year in Suzuka they screwed him big time when they gave Lawson 4lap undercut on him. Yuki quickly caught him and then was stuck for last 10laps behind him finishing 0.8secs behind where as he should have ended well ahead of his team mate instead. Qualifying was tight between the midfield, he did well to be ahead. Just 0.07secs down to miss Q3 and in the race P14. He had Ricciardo covered but nothing to show for it in the end.
AG82
2nd March 2024, 23:45
Let’s see DR’S maturity when the tables are turned. But since he’s corners golden child they won’t do that. He’s washed. Give that spot to someone more deserving like Liam Lawson
Toxic
3rd March 2024, 0:27
Red Bull needs to grab Sainz for 2025. He was quite evenly matched with Max at Torro Rosso and none of the Riccardo/Tsunoda pairing looks impressive enough to promote them.
EffWunFan (@cairnsfella)
3rd March 2024, 2:32
And Ricciardo wasn’t at Red Bull?
I’m not going to go out on a limb for Danny Ric here as he clearly had a shocker at McLaren and was fortunate to get a lifeline, but the way the knives are out you’d think he was consistently a class lower than Mazepin or Lattifi.
RBAlonso (@rbalonso)
3rd March 2024, 8:17
There’s a lot of jumping to conclusions in this comment section.
Can we really say one driver was better than the other with the gap at the end? Yuki could have opted for the soft and didn’t – that’s a race management error. He could have let Daniel through earlier seeing he had no chance of 11th and Daniel did – that’s a race management error. Daniel qualified poorly, again, got caught up in an incident, again, and ended up 5 places below his teammate.
I think overriding takeaway from this race was that RB don’t understand their car – certainly not in the way they did in testing. Which is completely understandable given the new philosophy and management team. I think the F1 community as a whole should relax for the first half of the season and see how it plays out – advising Red Bull of their driver policy on one round is incredibly short sighted.
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
3rd March 2024, 9:33
Right again. I guess the only real story is Yuki’s display of frustration.
Ferdinand
3rd March 2024, 11:32
This might be a good moment to look at both drivers and some others occupying seats in the pinnacle of Motorsport. I understood a lot of contracts are up for renewal at the end of the season. Time to get rid of some clutter in the field. I would suggest to replace Tsunoda, Ricciardo, Magnussen, Hulkenberg, Zhou, Bottas, Gasly, Ocon, Stroll, Sargeant and Perez. Not sure whether all these seats can be filled with Rookie drivers, but I would take my chances as the list mentioned only gives us what we already have, which is boring mediocracy. Fine for other race categories but I am tuning in to see the best of the best perform.
GechiChan (@gechichan)
4th March 2024, 10:35
Not sure why RedBull still needs the 2nd team. They don’t use it as a development program for their young drivers anymore, they still have big costs associated with the design of the car (why not use the exact RedBull car from a year ago), etc.
They should sell the team to Andretti.
S
5th March 2024, 3:21
Because that is not allowed in F1.
The second team is useful to them in a number of ways, or else they would sell it wouldn’t they…. Massive profit in it for them if they did, compared to what they paid for it – but the benefits of keeping it currently outweigh the reasons to sell.
I have an opinion
5th March 2024, 2:24
Tsunoda should have rage-punched the air like in Mexico last year.