Yuki Tsunoda will work with a psychologist hired by Red Bull to help him keep his emotions in check, Helmut Marko has revealed.
The Japanese racer is in his second season of Formula 1, driving for the sister team AlphaTaur i alongside Pierre Gasly. Results have so far been hit-and-miss for Tsunoda, who has secured some impressive points finishes but is also capable of some mighty blunders.
One of those occurred at the British Grand Prix last weekend, when he botched an attempted overtake on his team-mate. Instead of passing Gasly he made contact with the Frenchman, who later had to retire from the race with damage to his rear wing.
And thanks to several other incidents during his time in the sport, he has become well-known for his expletive-laden outbursts over team radio. While Tsunoda's racing ability is obvious, so is his struggle to control his temper.
According to Red Bull advisor Marko, that has forced the team to take action. He revealed that a professional help has been hired to address the issue, while also referring to Tsunoda as the "problem child" of the team.
"We have organised a kind of psychologist to work with him, because he continued to rant in the corners, so that inhibits performance," Marko said on German TV. "We should keep our emotions in check. Thank god Max [Verstappen] is calm. Our problem child in this respect, not only in this respect, is Tsunoda. He explodes on the radio, you wouldn't believe it."
Tsunoda was apologetic after the contact with Gasly, immediately jumping on the radio to say sorry to the team. He also admitted after the race that the incident was "completely my mistake" and vowed to be "stronger" the next time he takes to the track.
Ahead of this weekend's Austrian Grand Prix, the Japanese repeated that he was keen to put the incident behind him so he can focus on a better result at the Red Bull Ring.
"I am glad that we can go racing again after just a few days to put the Silverstone race behind us," he said. "I couldn't do anything about the collision after the start and later unfortunately I had the incident with Pierre. We discussed it as a team and now we move forward."
