The bromance between Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda continues even if the latter is a “pain in the ass”.
Both AlphaTauri drivers have formed quite a relationship since the Japanese youngster joined at the start of last year, with the pair often seen joking around together.
Gasly though admits, just like any good partner, Tsunoda can be a little bit too much to handle.
“He is a pain in the ass oh my god,” he jokingly told Tauri Talk.
“Yeah, it’s not easy to deal with him every single day, especially during the weekend!
“Luckily, we’ve got two different rooms. He keeps trying to break in[to] my room every single time but now it’s okay.”
Last year, as part of efforts to help Tsunoda settle in at his new team, the 22-year-old moved to Italy to be nearer to AlphaTauri’s base at Faenza.
And the Frenchman recalled one night when a plan he and Yuki had to meet up didn’t quite go as intended.
“I think he might get an invite for another dinner now at some point in Milan,” said Gasly.
“Last time we organised it was a pretty big disaster because he showed up an hour late.
“Luckily we were with other people but he likes to misbehave, but he had his own reasons. So it’s all fine, he’ll get another chance.”
On the track, Tsunoda has been enjoying a better 2022, although contact with Gasly at Silverstone didn’t help their relationship.
His often fruity language over the radio has also remained an issue and is one that Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko is trying to address.
“We have organised a kind of psychologist to work with him, because he continued to rant through the corners, so that impacts his performance,” he explained to Servus TV.
“We should keep our emotions in check but he explodes on the radio, you wouldn’t believe it.”
But with Gasly already confirmed for 2023, will Tsunoda stay to continue the bromance for another year?
“If he continues like he did during the season, apart from crashing, I think he has a good chance to stay with us,” said AlphaTauri chief Franz Tost.
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“It depends on him. If he shows a good performance he will stay, if he doesn’t show a good performance, he is out. Totally easy.
“You can see the gradient of his learning curve is really going up. He is doing a good job but he has to get himself under control in certain situations, be more disciplined and then we will see in the second half of the season.”