Daniel Ricciardo brands ‘f*** helmet’ Yuki Tsunoda ‘IMMATURE’ over Bahrain GP team order drama

The Australian driver believes his teammate's reaction, to the team order was childish.

Daniel Ricciardo brands ‘f*** helmet’ Yuki Tsunoda ‘IMMATURE’ over Bahrain GP team order drama

Yuki Tsunoda (L), Daniel Ricciardo (R) (images via IMAGO).

After the 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix, VisaCashRB’s Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo became hot topics of conversation. Their arguments on team radio during and after the race caused controversy in Bahrain. Ricciardo had some serious opinions about the incident and didn’t hesitate to call out Tsunoda for his immaturity.

Throughout the Grand Prix, Tsunoda maintained a considerable lead over his teammate Ricciardo and also fought with Fernando Alonso, Lance Stroll, and Guanyu Zhou for the majority of the race to earn points. But during the last few laps of the race, the scenario turned upside down when Tsunoda was asked to let through his teammate Ricciardo. The young driver was very unhappy with team orders and was seen making snarky remarks.

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I don't know. A bit of immaturity. I am being sensible right now, but let's say immaturity. I think, obviously, he is frustrated by the team orders.
Daniel Ricciardo said about their clash.

Even though RB didn’t perform as well as many had anticipated, a top-10 finish was still likely. Tsunoda overtook Ricciardo after slightly locking up during the cool-down lap. The two VCBAR 01 machines were closer than they should have been, which made the Australian driver very unhappy. His frustration was seen in the radio conversation with the team, but the driver tried to maintain his calm and decided to address the issue after the race. 

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Yuki Tsunoda addresses the cool-down lap issue

At the Bahrain Grand Prix, The two RB teammates got extremely close after crossing the line. While passing Ricciardo during the cool-down lap, Tsunoda locked up a little bit, getting closer than the Australian was comfortable with.  Tsunoda almost touched Daniel Ricciardo, his teammate. Triggered by the actions of the young driver, this is what the Australian driver said on the radio, “What a f***… I’ll save it. He’s a f*** helmet.“

Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda
Daniel Ricciardo [L] Yuki Tsunoda [R] (images via IMAGO)

After the footage of it all emerged Tsunoda decided to clear up the air surrounding the topic himself. As they pursued Kevin Magnussen‘s 12th-place Haas, Tsunoda was told to switch places with Ricciardo, causing a team order to storm between the two drivers during the opening race of the F1 2024 season. Following the race, Tsunoda’s in-car footage shows him overtaking Ricciardo on the cooldown lap, locking up on the turn, and then power sliding and accelerating hard as he passes the Australian driver.  the RB cars were separated by inches.

According to Tsunoda, he wasn’t that close to Ricciardo. He also seems to be confused with the decision made by the team to swap drivers for the last few laps. According to him, he was close enough to take over Magnussen, but due team’s decision he was unable to do so. On the other hand, Ricciardo after the swap was expected to do the job of taking over Magnussen, but he failed to do the same, causing more frustration on the side of the Japanese driver.

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