Tsunoda reacted angrily to a request from the pit wall to allow Ricciardo through in the closing stages of the race.
The Australian was on a different strategy, with a fresh set of soft tyres for the final stint, which afforded him pace to attack Kevin Magnussen and, potentially Zhou Guanyu in the final laps.
To do so, he needed to clear Tsunoda quickly, with RB issuing the instruction to its Japanese driver.
It was not well received, with the 23-year-old delaying the move before making his feelings abundantly clear post-race.
On the cool-down lap, Tsunoda locked his brakes as he divebombed Ricciardo at Turn 8 before almost making side-to-side contact with the Australian on the exit of the corner.
Ricciardo finished 13th in the race, Tsunoda 14th.
With both drivers fighting over a potential berth at Red Bull Racing for 2025, the reaction reflected especially poorly on Tsunoda.
“Definitely, it’s the thing I have to improve, for sure,” he said of his ability to control his emotions in the car, and the impact that could have on his chances for next season.
“I mean, if I do those things again, for sure, it will be more issues.
“These are things I have to improve, mainly, so I’m working on it.
“[I] Need more than two steps, you know, not just like one step,” he added of his shortcomings.
“I have confidence I can prove that and it’s up to them [Red Bull Racing] if they want me or not.”
Tsunoda’s outburst came just days after he admitted there were aspects of what Ricciardo does within the team that he can learn from.
Being calm on the radio and offering better feedback were chief among his comments.
Pressed on what he is doing to address his weaknesses by Speedcafe, there was little substance – instead, suggesting the television broadcast picked on him because of his radio outbursts.
“It’s still a learning process and probably what I showed in Sunday was opposite – or Saturday,” he conceded.
“But just keep reminding myself just before I jump into the car, no pressing radio.
“I think they love to pick myself, to be honest, in those radio. Yeah, I mean, probably… I’m not that shouty as it looks in the radio on the TV.
“I don’t know. The more I say it’s going to be worse. I’m just going to say I just try my best to improve and you will see in the track from this race onwards.”
Following the post-race pow-wow in Bahrain, which Ricciardo suggested was important and productive, Tsunoda now admits that, in the heat of the moment, he got it wrong.
“At that moment, yes,” he said when asked if the cool-down incident was a result of his frustration at the team orders he was issued.
“But in the end, I understand what they’re saying. And yeah, I think that’s it.
“Obviously, it wasn’t an easy race in the end. So that I think that’s it.
“We talked about it after the race with all the team, and we’re still unified,” he added.
“We’re on the same page now, we understand each other. So, yeah, I think that’s it, really.”
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