Ricciardo Details Resolution With Tsunoda After Heated Post-Bahrain Incident

Wednesday, 06 March 2024 at 16:30

RB driver Daniel Ricciardo commented he and Yuki Tsunoda cleared the air after the Bahrain Grand Prix cooldown lap incident.

Yuki Tsunoda wasn't happy with his team's orders during the 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix, and he let everyone know by divebombing his teammate on the cooldown lap and nearly colliding with him.

Daniel Ricciardo then went on the team radio and called the Japanese driver a "f*****g helmet," and during the post-race interview, he said it was "immature" from Tsundoa.

The RB team had about four days to resolve the tense situation between their two drivers, and Daniel Ricciardo explained how it had been approached as he talked to Sky Sports at Jeddah Corniche Circuit.

"I said a few things, but I also tried to save it for the briefing as well. As soon as you put the helmet on as well at the end of the race, there is some frustration."

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Drivers are full of adrenaline even after the race, and they might make some decisions that they will regret. Ricciardo suggested he tried to consider it as he reflected on the incident.

"You're also a bit exhausted, so you can always do some things which are a little bit out of character. So, I always try to take these things into account as well."

After every race, drivers and their teams have technical briefings to analyze and assess what happened and what can be improved. The Australian driver revealed that there was another private meeting after that, during which he and his teammate "cleared the air."

"Enough got probably put out there to the public, but it was important that we spoke after the race. After our technical briefing, we then had a private briefing and just cleared the air."

Ricciardo said everything was clear between him and Tsunoda, and they were both ready for this week's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. He also added:

"It was important for Yuki and I to do it, but it was also important for the team to know that: 'Hey, we're not gonna have problems moving forward.'"