In the final stages of the Bahrain race last Saturday, Tsunoda and Ricciardo found themselves outside the points, in 13th and 14th place, respectively. Tsunoda was on hard tires, while Ricciardo was on soft tires. Tsunoda tried to overtake Kevin Magnussen’s Haas for 12th place, but was unsuccessful. Red Bull (RB) then decided to switch the cars, giving Ricciardo the chance to pass Magnussen with his soft tires. Tsunoda expressed his dissatisfaction with the team orders and refused to give up his position to his teammate. However, on the cool down lap, Tsunoda seemed to aggressively approach Ricciardo at Turn 8, causing Ricciardo to make a quick maneuver to avoid a collision with the sister team’s VCARB 01 car. Ricciardo clearly was not impressed and expressed his frustration over the team radio. In an interview after the race, Ricciardo acknowledged the incident and suggested that Tsunoda’s actions were due to his frustration with the team’s decision. Ricciardo also emphasized the importance of maximizing their chances of scoring points, especially considering their position in the race. Despite the incident, Ricciardo admitted they were not strong enough to secure points in the race. He remained optimistic, recognizing that it is a long season and they will regroup and focus on the next race in Jeddah. A video of the incident was shared on social media.
Tsunoda shared his perspective with the press, stating: “I was about to overtake Magnussen. We need to analyze their reasoning, honestly, I don’t understand it.
“To be honest, I don’t know,” Tsunoda replied when asked if he was unhappy with the team orders. “I was outside the points.
“I was in the process of overtaking Magnussen, we were side by side on the main straight, and there was an exchange of drivers in the final laps. So, yes, honestly, I didn’t understand what the team was thinking. I need to understand their thought process, but so far, I still don’t understand,” he elaborated.
When informed that Ricciardo was less than a second behind him, Tsunoda added: “I was also in second [behind the lead car] and was just overtaking Magnussen. And he also didn’t overtake Magnussen.
“So, yes… We need to evaluate their reasoning, to be honest, I really don’t understand,” concluded the Japanese driver.
Red Bull CEO Peter Bayer reflected on the team order issue in Bahrain, stating to Motorsport.com: “Regarding the team order situation, yes, we discussed it.
“We informed Yuki and said, ‘Look, you need to overtake Magnussen and if you can’t, we will have to switch positions.’ He had two laps and couldn’t do it. So we decided to switch. We had a discussion with him,” Bayer concluded.
(Additional reporting by Agnes Carlier)
