Infotainment Factory: Psychologist hired to help F1 'problem child'

He may be the smallest driver on the Formula 1 grid, but Scuderia AlphaTauri driver Yuki Tsunoda has a tendency to go big over the radio.

Now in his second season with Red Bull Racing's sister squad, the 22-year-old has quickly earned a reputation for being a hot head.

A quick YouTube search provides plenty of examples where the young Japanese driver has had expletive-laden outbursts.

Such is his temper, Red Bull Racing advisor Helmut Marko has enlisted the help of a psychologist.

Marko hopes Tsunoda can lean on Max Verstappen, who has a tendency to fire up on the radio too – although that doesn't affect his driving like Marko thinks it does for Tsunoda.

"We have organised a kind of psychologist to work with him because he continued to rant in the corners, so that inhibits performance," Marko told Servus TV.

"We should keep our emotions in check. Thank God Max 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's introduction to Formula 1 hasn't been all smooth sailing.

He moved to the United Kingdom initially but was shifted by the team to Italy to be closer to AlphaTauri.

Getting accustomed to the racing wasn't the only hurdle to overcome, in fact, one of his biggest obstacles was off-track.

"I started changing my mind," he said of the English cuisine.

"I used to say in Netflix [Drive to Survive], probably it's not amazing. It doesn't suit well to my mouth, my tongue, especially when I was living in Milton Keynes.

"Because I was only eating in Milton Keynes, that was probably a big problem. I should explore more around the UK.

"I spend [some time] in quite a nice hotel and a nice restaurant there and I found it really quite delicious there.

"I start to change my mind. Also the time as well was not ideal because I was in quarantine and I pretty much every day I was Uber Eats-ing with the Subway or whatever.

"Definitely not ideal. Anyway. I started changing my mind. I really start to like the fish and chips as well. Every time I came to the simulator I always eat fish and chips."

Tsunoda finished 14th in his maiden Formula 1 season for AlphaTauri with a season-best finish of fourth in the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

With the season nearing the halfway mark, he sits 15th in the drivers' championship with a best finish of seventh in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

Formula 1 continues this weekend at the AlphaTauri's de facto home race at the Red Bull Ring for the Austrian Grand Prix.

Practice 1 gets underway on Friday at 9.30pm AEST.

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