WATCH: “Are you kidding me,” Yuki Tsunoda FURIOUS as VCARB forces him to let ‘modern social media product’ Daniel Ricciardo pass at the Bahrain GP

Yuki Tsunoda was asked to swap positions with Daniel Ricciardo and fall down to 14th position towards the 52nd lap of the race.

WATCH: “Are you kidding me,” Yuki Tsunoda FURIOUS as VCARB forces him to let ‘modern social media product’ Daniel Ricciardo pass at the Bahrain GP

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

The 2024 Bahrain GP concluded recently with Max Verstappen scoring a dominant win down the race. The Dutchman held a clean 22s lead over the runner-up Sergio Perez. However, VisaCashAppRB had multiple issues with their drivers down the race. By the 52nd Lap of the race, the team instructed Yuki Tsunoda to cede positions and allow Daniel Ricciardo to overtake him due to issues.

Daniel Ricciardo was just behind Tsunoda in fourteenth place. However, near the end of the race, the Japanese driver was asked to swap positions and occupy the 14th spot. Tsunoda was confused about the reasons behind the move and had an outburst over team radio. Ricciardo was on soft tires compared to his teammate who was on hards and hence this was the reason for the swap.

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The unexpected team orders angered Tsunoda. Additionally, swapping Tsunoda with the Australian driver did not help the team as the 34-year-old did not gain further positions. The two VCARB drivers were fighting it with Haas’ Kevin Magnussen. The Japanese yelled and questioned his race engineer if he was ‘kidding’ as the move was completely unfathomable for the driver. Regardless, Tsunoda ceded positions and let Ricciardo pass him towards the end of the race. Previously F1 champion Jacques Villeneuve had labeled Daniel Ricciardo a ‘product of social media.’ Perhaps this claim falls true as the former Red Bull driver struggled agianst his much younger teammate.

FS Video
Are you kidding me? NOW??
Tsunoda told his race engineer (H&T: @Formula_Latina/X).

Yuki Tsunoda went on a rant after swapping positions

Following the unexpected move to let Daniel Ricciardo through, Yuki Tsunoda commented on the move. Both the drivers had a disappointing qualifying session at Bahrain GP as the two were eliminated from Q2. Additionally, other issues down the race had downgraded the positions for the two drivers. Hence, the two were fighting against one another to occupy the 13th spot and potentially challenge Haas’ driver in front.

Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo
Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo (via IMAGO)

Tsunoda mentioned that Ricciardo was not fast at all and the move was unwanted. Following the team orders, Ricciardo was unable to overtake Kmag and hence finished in 13th position. As a result, the move was entirely unnecessary and the Japanese driver was further disappointed with the move. The two drivers finished outside of points and hence this was the end of a disappointing season opener in Bahrain.

He's not fast at all!

VCARB had been showcasing a decent pace and performance during the practice and test sessions. Daniel Ricciardo was also the fastest driver during the FP1 session. However, a bad qualifying session for the two drivers and other issues became the reason for both of them to score zero points. The team would try to bounce back and finally some scores at the Saudi Arabian GP next week.

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