Formula 1 rookie Yuki Tsunoda probably knew he had made a mistake questioning whether he has the same car as AlphaTauri team-mate Pierre Gasly in Spanish Grand Prix qualifying the moment he said it.
Tsunoda’s radio outbursts have been well-utilised by F1 as a quick source of entertainment this season, which has come as little surprise given the young Japanese driver accepts he has a problem keeping his emotions in check.
While it is amusing at times, in the context of this difficult spell in his rookie season it is an issue that risks running out of control.
He went too far in qualifying at Barcelona, raising eyebrows with a critical message over the radio about the quality of his car – when Gasly had comfortably made Q2 – and then crossing the line with his remarks afterwards.
“It’s always a different feedback compared to my team-mate, both sides are opposite,” said Tsunoda.
“So, I have a little bit of a question mark: is it the same car?
“Obviously it is the same car, but the character of the car is too different.
“Maybe of course it is just a driving style, but yeah, I don’t know why I was struggling this much.”
There are some mitigating circumstances. Frustration is understandable at this level when things don’t work out, he is still very young, and while he has worked hard to improve his command of English it is only his second language and one he is still improving.
However, ex-F1 driver Marcus Ericsson summed it up quite neatly during qualifying when he tweeted that it’s “getting a bit too much” and that Tsunoda “seems like his own worst enemy at the moment”.
There is some truth to that. Tsunoda missed out on a Q1 place by just 0.007s and seemed baffled by the out-laps of some of the other drivers, which he suggested threw his own tyre preparation out the window.
Getting the tyre temperatures right, especially when out-laps can be slow, is something of a dark art in F1. But it is something that Tsunoda would be better off seeking to understand – and being certain is the limiting factor – before even daring to suggest there might be a fundamental problem with the material at his disposal.
As Ericsson said, “instead of swearing, complaining and acting like a kid that doesn’t get his candy he should focus on getting the most out of himself and his car”.
If this seems harsh, especially given it’s a quick-fire deconstruction of a 20-year-old driver in just his fourth race weekend, it’s important to remember the quality of the driver in question. Tsunoda is very highly-rated and has proven himself to be ferociously quick.
The big question mark was always going to be how he handled the extra stress and pressure that can so easily overwhelm someone new to F1.
Four races is not a big enough sample set to judge any driver, let alone a rookie, but it is enough for a trend to start developing.
At the moment, the main trend with Tsunoda is that his emotions are getting the best of him. He is viewed by some as having prodigious ability. At the moment, his frustrations are seriously threatening to undermine that.
