“Red Bull may have very well saved his F1 career”- Yuki Tsunoda explains why he stopped shouting on his radio messages while driving

Yuki Tsunoda’s radio outbursts became an infamous norm during a race in 2021, something the Red Bull junior has worked on.

Tsunoda made his F1 debut with AlphaTauri in 2021, replacing Daniil Kvyat at the team. He went off to a great start, scoring points in Bahrain, but struggled in quite a few races thereafter.

During these struggles, we saw a pattern develop that confirmed Tsunoda’s frustration behind the wheel. The young Japanese driver took to the team radio, to shout way too often.

F1 drivers do vent their anger or resentment on the team radio, but for a rookie driver to do this as frequently as Tsunoda, it was surprising. This did lead to many people questioning the 21-year old’s attitude.

Some felt that he was being too rude, and needed to tone it down. Others emphasized with his frustration and understood why he was behaving that way. However, as results began to come, the AlphaTauri driver’s radio outbursts reduced in number.

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There’s no point in shouting on the radio, says the former Red Bull junior team driver

Midway into the 2021 season, Tsunoda left Red Bull’s home city of Milton-Keynes to move to Italy. There, he could train and practice close to the AlphaTauri facilities, and the trainers could keep an eye on him.

It turned out to be a decision that turned his F1 career around. The second half of 2021 turned out to pretty good for the Japanese driver, and he topped it off with a fourth place finish in Abu Dhabi. Four races into his second F1 season now, Tsunoda admits that shouting on the radio makes no sense.

“Maybe I’m still shouting,” he said. “But I’m just not pressing the radio button as much. This is a massive step, compared to last year. Still, I think I try to be more calm. I realized there’s no point to shout in the radio.”

“It’s better to tell the limitations specifically with a calm voice and to go the next step, so I think this was good,” the Red Bull academy star added.

Yuki Tsunoda is 12th in the Drivers’ Standings, with 10 points to his name. F1 action returns next weekend when the sport makes it’s debut in the city of Miami, Florida.

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