Yuki Tsunoda was unable to enjoy an easy debut during the 2021 Formula 1 season with AlphaTauri, and Red Bull’s Austrian structure made the decision to continue investing in him, giving him a new residence in Italy, so that he would be closer to the team’s factory in Faenza , and extended his stay in the category for one more campaign.
Although Tsunoda has shown some improvement in this second year in which AlphaTauri has had a hard time being one of the protagonists in the middle of the grid, the Japanese driver has continued to show his characteristic aggressive style, both in terms of driving as in his radio messages.
At last weekend’s British Grand Prix, the Japanese fumed after a collision with his team-mate, Pierre Gasly, but after being handed a time penalty and two penalty points on his leave, had to admit fault for the incident.
As a result of the incident, Gasly had to retire with damage to his rear wing, while Tsunoda finished fourteenth, the last of all drivers to cross the checkered flag.
This accident also affected Max Verstappen, of Red Bull, since the endplate of his car ended up stuck in the floor of the Dutchman’s car, seriously harming his performance.
Speaking to Servus TV , Marko revealed that the team had hired a psychologist to help what he called their “problem child”, with the aim of helping him control his temper behind the wheel, which the Austrian says is costing him performance.
“We’ve hired a sort of psychologist to work with him, because he keeps ranting at every corner, which affects performance,” said Marko.
The Red Bull adviser believes that Tsunoda could learn from world champion Verstappen , as Verstappen also often gets angry on the team radio, but he does not let these emotions affect his performance.
“We should all keep our emotions in check. Thank God Max is calm, our problem child in this sense, not only this sense, is Tsunoda. He always blows up on the radio, you wouldn’t believe it.”
The Japanese AlphaTauri driver said the incident was discussed internally and said he hoped to change his image next weekend at the Austrian Grand Prix.
“I’m happy to be back racing after just a few days so I can put the Silverstone race behind me,” he said before the Red Bull Ring event.
“I couldn’t do anything to avoid the collision after the start, and unfortunately I had another incident with Pierre afterwards. We discussed it as a team and now we’re moving on.”
In recent years, more and more F1 drivers have recognized and spoken publicly about the benefits of consulting sports psychologists. George Russell and Lando Norris have been two great examples when talking about the mental health problems that high-performance sport generates.
