Dieter Rencken reckons that Yuki Tsunoda will have had to face both of his bosses after he angrily suggested that his AlphaTauri car isn't the same as his teammate Pierre Gasly's. Tsunoda was eliminated in the first part of qualifying in Spain, and made the suggestion on live television as Gasly went on into Q2. The Japanese driver issued an apology just a few hours later. Rencken believes that frustration with his current underperformance, after a strong start in Bahrain, lies at the heart of the outburst. "I think that that was a bit of a, shall we say, short sighted comment that he made there about the car not being the same," Rencken told Thomas Maher on the RacingNews365.com podcast. "But I think this is indicative of the level of frustration that he's experiencing, having gone off to a flying start in Bahrain, having been second fastest in testing, he really thought the season was going to go his way. And I think he sort of woken up with a bit of a bump and a jolt. "At one stage, people like Ross Brawn were talking about him as a certain Grand Prix winner, a potential champion, Japan's first World Champion, etc. I frankly was also incredibly impressed with him after Bahrain. But we should never forget that Formula 1 is a very, very harsh business and it comes and bites you when you least expect it." With Tsunoda having to face his AlphaTauri team boss Franz Tost, as well as no doubt a meeting with Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko, who oversees the junior programme, Rencken explained the two bosses are likely to have taken a differing approach in how to deal with Tsunoda's outburst. "The two gentlemen [Marko and Tost] are completely the opposite," Rencken explained. "Helmut is a driver from the old school. He grew up with Jochen Rindt and Niki Lauda, he lost an eye in an accident in the 70s. He's a Le Mans winner, a really, really tough guy. "Franz, on the other side, is more of a sort of psychologist type team manager. And I think that what you'll have on the one side is Franz will be the good cop and Helmut will be the bad cop, if I could put it in those terms. "But I think between them they can actually sort it out," Rencken continued. "I don't believe it's the end of Yuki's career. He just has to get a grip on himself and they need to get a grip on him. "Possibly, Yuki doesn't quite have that sort of maturity at this stage for the top level but I have no doubt he's extremely talented, extremely quick." Listen to the full RacingNews365.com podcast below!
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