Ricciardo fuming after teammate’s “immaturity” highlighted in Bahrain

Tensions are running high between the Visa Cash App RB drivers at the Bahrain Grand Prix after a final-stint driver swap saw Daniel Ricciardo promoted ahead of his fiery teammate, leading to a reckless cool down lap from Yuki Tsunoda.  

Ricciardo started the Bahrain Grand Prix from P14, having earned the position after a disappointing result from Friday’s Qualifying session.

Ahead of him in P11 was Yuki Tsunoda, the front-running RB as the lights went out in Bahrain. 

By the chequered flag, however, roles had been reversed, with Ricciardo finishing ahead of the Japanese driver in a somewhat controversial fashion.

“We were not quite good enough for points today,” Ricciardo said. 

“I struggled a lot at the beginning of the race with the used soft tyres because there was a pretty poor grip off the line.

“In the middle stint with the hard tyres, we got a little bit more pace, but I anyway felt that I was struggling. 

“In the end, the new soft compound was a lot better. 

“We finally extracted some pace and were catching the pack.

“I got a little stuck behind other cars and I lost the grip on the tyres.” 

Daniel Ricciardo leaves his pit box after a stop during the Bahrain GP. Image: Zak Mauger / LAT Images.

The #3 struggled with his car balance during the first two hard tyre stints, an issue Technical Director, Jody Egginton says they are yet “to understand the factors influencing this”.

“We need to go through the data and review points in the race where we could have maybe taken advantage of our closest competitors.

“Daniel did make good use of his soft compound tyre in the final stint to get himself back to the group, but overtaking was not easy, and he ran out of laps to move forward.” 

Ricciardo found a better rhythm on the red-marked compound, catching up to the pack in P14 which was an eventual catalyst for a very heated end to the Bahrain Grand Prix for RB’s first rebranded outing.

With Tsunoda’s hard tyres wearing down, Ricciardo promptly found himself staring down the rear of his teammate. 

Daniel Ricciardo chasing down his teammate during the Bahrain GP. Image: Mark Sutton / Sutton Images.

With more pace in hand, team orders came into play in hopes of securing a cheap point in the final laps, crucially favouring the Australian. 

“The call for the drivers’ swap was quite expected and came with no surprise,” Ricciardo said.

“Before the race, we obviously talked with the team about strategy plans, and it was highly likely I was going to finish the race with a new set of soft tyres after starting the race with a used set.” 

Despite an additional lap of hesitance in Tsunoda’s cockpit, the Japanese driver eventually let his teammate through.

Ricciardo wasn’t able to catch the Haas of Kevin Magnussen ahead, ultimately crossing the line in P13 ahead of the #22. 

The frustration boiled over for Tsunoda on the cooldown lap, with the youngster locking up, cutting off, and almost colliding with his teammate on the way back to the pitlane. 

Ricciardo was vocal over the radio about his feelings on the post-race incident, saying that he’d “save it” for a not-so-public forum before going on to call Tsunoda a “******* helmet”.

Daniel Ricciardo on his cool down lap after the Bahrain Grand Prix. Image: Clive Mason/Getty Images // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool.

Speaking with F1 after the race, Ricciardo said: 

“I don’t know. I came on the radio and was trying to stay cool. A bit of immaturity? I’m being very sensible right now, but let’s call it immaturity.

“[Yuki’s] obviously frustrated with the team orders call, but let’s be real, this is something we talk about before the race. 

“It was very likely I was going to use the 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 a call, it’s going to happen. 

“He’s also 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.”

During the race, the always vocal Yuki didn’t disappoint, sarcastically thanking his team for the driver swap, adding, “I really appreciate it”, before going on to say that Ricciardo was not “fast at all”.

“I don’t even want to talk about it to be honest,” Tsunoda said.

“We were fighting outside of the points anyway, P13/14, and I was just overtaking Magnussen, I was side by side, and then we swapped the cars in the last few laps. 

“To be honest, I can’t understand. 

“We have to review… In the end, [Daniel] didn’t overtake as well so… whatever.”

RB will hope to iron out their driver issues and car issues before heading off to Jeddah for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in a few days.

“It’s a long year, we need to make sure we’re all good, so we’ll go back, have a meeting, be very mature about it then look forward to Jeddah,” the #3 said.

FP1 for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix kicks off at 12:30 AM, AEST, March 8.

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