Daniel Ricciardo finds himself in an awkward position post-Bahrain, following a tense exchange with Yuki Tsunoda.
After substantial pre-season excitement, the Racing Bulls lacked the pace to disturb the front-runners in Sakhir. However, there was still visible tension between Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo as they battled for position.
In a field with five established top-five teams, points will be extremely difficult for midfield teams.
VCARB are no exception, although a small window of opportunity did present itself in the opening round.
Tsunoda managed to navigate a complicated first turn, with Hulkenberg and Stroll making contact just ahead.
This put the Japanese driver in contention for points, spending the first stint within a few points of Fernando Alonso.
The first round of pit stops quickly showed the lead AMR24 was beyond reach.
However, Lance Stroll was still behind the 23-year-old after about two-thirds of the Grand Prix.
It was at this stage that the Racing Bull driver fell victim to the undercut. Not only to the Canadian, but Zhou and Magnussen also.
Before long, Daniel Ricciardo was within DRS range of his teammate.
Ricciardo reflects on the altercation
Having started the race relatively quietly, a late stint on soft tyres saw him climb the field.
Unfortunately for the Laurent Mekies’ personnel, team orders over P13 created a rift between the drivers.
Speaking after a series of heated exchanges on track, Ricciardo reflected on the incident post-race:
“The call for the drivers’ swap was quite expected and came with no surprise.
“Before the race, we obviously talked with the team about strategy plans.
“And it was highly likely I was going to finish the race with a new set of soft tyres after starting the race with a used set.
“It is what it is, and let’s turn the page now.”
With a potential Red Bull seat on the line, it is understandable that competition will exist within the team.
After all, competition between teammates is a natural aspect of Formula 1.
This does not mean, however, that VCARB will allow these ugly situations to arise throughout the year.
With a record-breaking season still ahead, preventing this scenario from occurring in the future will be critical.
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