Yuki Tsunoda (P14): 6/10
We wonder how Laurent Mekies is feeling after his first post-race debrief as team principal at RB (formerly AlphaTauri, previously Toro Rosso). We doubt that Yuki Tsunoda held back his true feelings about being told to hand over track position to team mate Daniel Ricciardo in the closing stages of the Bahrain Grand Prix. Even allowing for Ricciardo being on soft tyres at the time, it seemed a poor decision by the team given that they were never in with a chance of points by that stage. The squad had finished 2023 on an upward trajectory, but their race this weekend suggests that all the off-season changes at Faenza and Bicester have had a somewhat disruptive, retrograde effect.
Daniel Ricciardo (P13): 6.5/10
Daniel Ricciardo looked like he was getting on well with his RB team mate Yuki Tsunoda last year, but the pair seemed to be on distinctly chilly terms throughout the weekend in Bahrain. That was even before the moment Ricciardo appealed for the pit wall to issue team orders to the Japanese driver to let him pass. This instruction was duly given and Tsunoda wasn't happy about it, and then Ricciardo could do nothing with the clear track ahead of him. He failed to catch let along pass Kevin Magnussen for what would only have been 12th place anyway. None of this shows RB is a team at ease with itself or heading in the right direction, and that could ultimately impact Ricciardo's hopes to succeed Sergio Perez at the parent team.
