Yuki Tsunoda Explains How Daniel Ricciardo Helped Him in Anger Management That Has Led Him to Achieve Recent Career Success

Yuki Tsunoda Explains How Daniel Ricciardo Helped Him in Anger Management That Has Led Him to Achieve Recent Career Success

Yuki Tsunoda’s first few seasons in Formula 1 had earned him a reputation for being a loose cannon. The young Japanese driver was prone to getting too angry, too quickly. This translated on the track as errors and more often than not his angry radio outbursts would culminate in him getting immense flak on social media as well. This year, his “anger issues” seem to have disappeared as fans have witnessed a more composed driver at the wheel of the Visa Cash App RB (V-CARB) car. Tsunoda credits his teammate, Daniel Ricciardo, for the same.

The #22 driver’s performances have improved drastically this year. And this has coincided with his apparent change of temperament. Speaking on the Sky Sports F1 podcast, the V-CARB driver credited Ricciardo for teaching him more about “self-control” and he respects the Honey Badger for it.

Tsunoda agrees that his new-found composure is helping him fetch results on the track for his team. With 15 points to his name so far, Tsunoda has broken through into the top 10 in the Drivers’ Standings.

During his conversation, he also revealed that Ricciardo has impressed him in other areas as well. The 24-year-old praised the Australian for his focus and the depth of his feedback to the engineers.

Narrating an incident, Tsunoda explained how he realized that Ricciardo’s feedback to the engineers about the car was head and shoulders above his own approach. That being said, the apprentice does seem to have the legs on his senior teammate this season.

Moreover, in terms of Qualifying, the young Japanese driver has his teammate beat comprehensively. The current head-to-head in Qualifying stands at 6-1 in favor of Tsunoda.

Has Yuki Tsunoda fulfilled his potential with Red Bull?

Yuki Tsunoda has had many highlights to show for this season. However, one of his strongest performances came at the 2024 Emilia Romagna GP.

The #22 driver looked in stellar form during the practice sessions. Then, he Qualified his V-CARB in a solid seventh place on the grid. He rounded the weekend off with a top-10 finish and took a single point back home to Faenza.

The efforts the Japanese-born driver has put have not gone unnoticed. Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has himself remarked how Tsunoda’s anger issues and rashness on track are a thing of the past now.

The Austrian also hinted at a possible discussion about Tsunoda’s Red Bull future. Promising to give him at least a consideration for a promotion to the main team, it is yet to be seen whether the 24-year-old gets to shine with the reigning world champions next year.

Post Edited By: Vidit Dhawan
Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull V-CARB Yuki Tsunoda

About the author

Anirban Aly Mandal

Anirban Aly Mandal is an F1 writer at The SportsRush, with over 1000 articles under his belt, Anirban's love for F1 started when he discovered a copy of F1 2014 on his computer. With over half a decade's worth of time spent religiously following the sport, he’s dived deep into the world of motorsports. However, Anirban's expertise goes beyond just writing - he has also written several academic papers focused on the domain of motorsports and the law. His passion for the sport is so immense that he aspires to work as a legal advisor in the most prestigious racing series in the world someday. When it comes to Formula 1, Anirban finds great pleasure in re-watching classic races and idolizes the likes of Ayrton Senna, Nigel Mansell, and Sebastian Vettel. His top picks include Brazil '91, Silverstone '92, and Germany '19. Outside of the sport, Anirban is an avid sim racer, often found racing on titles like Assetto Corsa, F1 22, and Automobilista. Apart from his interests in gaming, Anirban has a keen interest in philosophy, literature and music.

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