Daniel Ricciardo arrival has F1 team-mate Yuki Tsunoda needing 'emotion control'

20 October 2023 , 20:01

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Daniel Ricciardo arrival has F1 team-mate Yuki Tsunoda needing 'emotion control'

Fiery Formula 1 star Yuki Tsunoda wants to get to grips with his temper and thinks he can learn from laidback team-mate Daniel Ricciardo.

Tsunoda has had three different partners so far this year – Nyck de Vries was axed after 10 races and Ricciardo drove in just two Grands Prix before breaking his hand, handing young Liam Lawson five races' worth of F1 experience. The Aussie is back in action at this weekend's United States Grand Prix and is due to spend the whole of the 2024 season racing alongside the Japanese driver at AlphaTauri.

Ricciardo is by far the most experienced team-mate Tsunoda has ever had in F1, and he wants to use that to his advantage. Now that the 34-year-old is back from injury, he said he will be keeping a close eye on how the former Renault and McLaren driver goes about his work on and off the track.

"Looking forward to it. We've just had two races, so I haven't fully explored enough his character or how he drives," he told Motorsport.com. "But already I've learned lots of things from him. Especially the weakness I have and what I want to improve now is probably one of the best things that he is good at."

Tsunoda knows he has a habit of letting his temper get the better of him when he is behind the wheel. An example cropped up at the end of practice in Austin on Friday, when he reacted to coming across traffic while on a flying lap by swearing loudly over the radio and gesturing with his hand.

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And he pointed out that he has improvements to make on the psychological side of the job when asked for specifics on where he feels those aforementioned weaknesses lie. Looking at Ricciardo, he added: "More like emotion control and how he behaves in teams. He's really good.

"That's really key, especially when you drive 24 races a year and drive consistently. That's the most important thing and he's experienced so he probably knows what he can improve, what the team is asking for. He's much more calm than me. That's probably one of the things I want to improve now.

"I just don't know properly yet about him but I think we feedback about the cars and information what I got from him has been fairly similar. I think we're working pretty well, as a team as well. So, looking forward to working with him next year as well."

Both Tsunoda and Ricciardo have made it clear they would jump at the chance to move up to the Red Bull sister team if the opportunity arises. And it may do so within the next year, with Sergio Perez out of contract at the end of 2024 and enduring a shaky season despite having the quickest car on the grid.

Daniel Moxon