Soon after Daniel Ricciardo parted ways with McLaren at the end of the 2022 season, his former confidante, Michael Italiano, moved to AlphaTauri to work with Yuki Tsunoda. With Italiano now having worked with Tsunoda for half a season, he explained what it is like to work with the Japanese driver. While revealing the same, he also remembered a hilarious incident when he almost blindsided the 23-year-old.
AlphaTauri hired Italiano to help mentor Tsunoda and make sure that his performances on track are strong. However, with the recent changes in the team, the dynamics for Italiano will change completely. This is because, at the beginning of the season, Italiano was helping Tsunoda compete against Nyck de Vries.
However, de Vries has now been sacked. As a result, Italiano will have to help the Japanese driver compete against his former confidante, Ricciardo. While it will be interesting to see how this situation plays out, it is fair to say that Italiano and Tsunoda are getting along well considering a recent interview the former gave.
Italiano reveals a hilarious moment he had with Tsunoda
Michael Italiano recently appeared on the Pitstop podcast when he explained how he is enjoying working with Yuki Tsunoda. Italiano began his remarks by describing a hilarious moment when he almost blinded the Japanese driver while taking revenge against him.
“He’s (Tsunoda) grabbed the golf ball and he just lobbed it onto my shin. Obviously, it hurt right and he’s giggling. So, I grabbed the golf ball (and) threw the golf ball over. I wasn’t even looking. And it has hit him straight in the eye“, said Italiano while describing the incident.
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After stating the same, Italiano revealed how “panicked” he got as a result, having also heard a “pop” sound. Italiano added that the ball hit Tsunoda so badly that the 23-year-old was “rolling in pain“. However, despite all this, Italiano hilariously told Tsunoda that his eye did not look “too bad” when the 2018 Japanese F4 champion asked him about the same.
Considering that the two seem to be working together amicably, all eyes will now be on how Italiano helps Tsunoda compete against Ricciardo considering that he knows a lot about the Australian, having worked alongside him for five years previously.
Michael Italiano gives his take on Daniel Ricciardo’s return
In the same podcast, Michael Italiano also gave his take on Daniel Ricciardo returning to the F1 grid. He began by explaining how it was very strange for him to not be working with him anymore.
Then, Italiano hilariously added that with Ricciardo now returning to the grid, he gets confused about which side of the AlphaTauri garage he is needed in. However, he did state that he has enjoyed working with Yuki Tsunoda so far and is keen on helping him develop even further.
Tsunoda will have a task on his hands as he will need to go up against the experienced Ricciardo, who is now coached by Pyry Salmela. Considering that Ricciardo beat Tsunoda in their very first race as teammates at the Hungarian Grand Prix, it will be interesting to see how the rest of the campaign pans out for the both of them.
