Tsunoda has performed the better of the two this season, outscoring his more experienced colleague by 10 points so far, resulting in the Japanese driver agreeing a new deal with the team.
This is perhaps why he was given priority when it came to improvements to the RB car.
Tsunoda, though, endured a miserable weekend at the Italian Grand Prix, and after the race, slammed the performance of the car.
The Japanese driver was clear that there was a significant discrepancy between what he had experienced in the simulator and what he saw on track.
Now, Ricciardo has addressed that stinging criticism, admitting that while he has sympathy for his team-mate, he is hopeful that there will be an improvement in Baku this weekend.
“Unless the team see some strong negatives, the plan is to still run them in Baku," he explained.
“I think sometimes what you can’t predict is on track, it might produce more load, but maybe it shifts the balance and setting up the car is trickier.
“Maybe that is what we just didn’t get quite right to exploit all of the grip, but it is hard for me to speak on.
"I want to believe it can still be good, because obviously the last one wasn’t too good for us.
“I’d like to think this one is better but obviously only Yuki has the experience with it and he was vocal about having a tough weekend, so we will see.
“It is something I would definitely like to try and give at least a session and have a feel for it before maybe saying it is not the one.”