F1: Daniel Ricciardo, Yuki Tsunoda clear the air at RB after team order tension in Bahrain GP
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Daniel Ricciardo says he and Yuki Tsunoda held clear-the-air talks in the wake of tensions between the RB team-mates on track in the closing stages of last week’s Bahrain GP.
Running out of the points and close behind Kevin Magnussen’s Haas car last Saturday, Tsunoda was angered by a call from the team over the radio to let Ricciardo, who was on quicker soft tyres, through with five laps of the race to go.
On-board footage of the cool-down lap after the race showed Tsunoda diving in front of Ricciardo, and then locking up his car’s brakes, with the latter heard criticising his team-mate over the radio with some choice language.
Speaking to Sky Sports F1 on media day ahead of this week’s Saudi Arabian GP, Ricciardo said: “I obviously said a few things on the radio and I obviously know everything is going to get broadcast, so I tried to save it for the briefing.
“It’s hard, as soon as you put the helmet on and it’s the end of the race, there’s some frustration and you are a bit exhausted, you can always do some things which are a bit out of character. I try to take these things into account.
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“It was something for us afterwards. Enough got put out there to the public but it was important we spoke after the race, so after our technical briefing, we also had a private briefing and cleared the air.
“That was important for Yuki and I to do it and for the team to know ‘OK, we are not going to have problems moving forward’. It’s race one and I think that’s what we needed to do and it helped us leave that room, ‘alright, it’s done, Saudi here we come’.”
The experienced Ricciardo joined Tsunoda at the team midway through the 2023 season after they dropped Nyck de Vries and have both made clear their intention to claim a seat at the senior Red Bull team next year with Sergio Perez’s contract up at the end of the year.
“Last year, it was all pretty smooth,” said Ricciardo.
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“There was that little thing in Bahrain but if we didn’t address it and he kind of stormed off or whatever, you would think ‘this is an issue’. But we were both very willing to sit in a room together and just talk it through. I think this is important.”
Ricciardo added: “I was curious to see how it was going to be dealt with. As racing drivers we are stubborn. I think the fact we got brought into a room and just talked about it, it was very calm and composed. There were no pointing fingers, it was just ‘let’s talk about this, so we know when we leave this room we feel a lot better about it and we go to Saudi with no hangover about it’.”
Asked if he had received an apology from Tsunoda, Ricciardo replied: “I’m old enough that I don’t need anyone to put an arm around me and say ‘sorry about that’. I’m looking more big picture.
“This is a team that’s relatively new in some respects. It’s a long season and I know if you have rivalries from race one it won’t help the team moving forwards. It was about dealing with it then and there and to clear the air.
“It was all very calmly spoken, no raised voices or anything. We treated it like adults.”
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Tsunoda: People like to pick my radio moments
It is not the first time Tsunoda’s team radio has been highlighted since he made his F1 debut in 2021.
Coming into this season, the Japanese driver stated he wanted to learn from his more experienced team-mate, but Tsunoda admitted he “probably showed the opposite” in Bahrain.
“I just keep reminding myself and before I jump into the car, ‘no pressing radio’ and those things. Probably, people love to pick me for those radio moments,” he said.
“I’m not that shouty than what I look on TV. I just try my best and improve, and you will see that on track from these races onwards.”
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On the incident itself he added: “We talked about it after the race with the whole team. We are unified and on the same page now. We understand each other.
“I think we were on a different strategy to Daniel and he had newer tyres. I was fighting with Kevin and he had more free air and pace.
“I think the team probably thought he had more pace and there was more chance to overtake Kevin, so they asked me to swap the position.
“In that moment I was heated. I was getting quite heated moments in my brain but I still let him through a lap or half a lap later. In the end, the team thought he had more chance and I respect that.”
Sky Sports F1’s live Saudi Arabian GP schedule
Thursday March 7
- 9.50am: F2 Practice
- 10.50am: F1 Academy Practice
- 1pm: Saudi Arabian GP Practice One (session starts at 1.30pm)
- 2.55pm: F2 Qualifying
- 4.45pm: Saudi Arabian GP Practice Two (session starts at 5pm)
- 6.15pm: F1 Academy Qualifying
- 7.15pm: The F1 Show
Friday March 8
- 11.55am: F1 Academy Race 1
- 1.10pm: Saudi Arabian GP Practice Three (session starts at 1.30pm)
- 3.05pm: F2 Sprint Race
- 4.10pm: Saudi Arabian GP Qualifying build-up
- 5pm: SAUDI ARABIAN GP QUALIFYING
Saturday March 9
- 12pm: F1 Academy Race 2
- 1.20pm: F2 Feature Race
- 3.30pm: Saudi Arabian GP build-up: Grand Prix Saturday
- 5pm: THE SAUDI ARABIAN GRAND PRIX
- 7pm: Saudi Arabian GP reaction: Chequered flag
- 9.30pm: Saudi Arabian GP highlights
Watch the second round of the new F1 season – the Saudi Arabian GP – live on Sky Sports F1 this coming week, with practice on Thursday, qualifying on Friday and the race at 5pm on Saturday. Stream every F1 race and more with a NOW Sports Month Membership for just £21 a month for 12 months
Anthony Joshua’s heavyweight showdown with Francis Ngannou takes place on Friday March 8, live on Sky Sports Box Office with the main event expected around 11pm. Book Joshua v Ngannou now!
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