Yuki Tsunoda, 20, to Become Formula One’s First Japanese Driver in 7 Years

December 17, 2020

Italian Formula One racing team AlphaTauri has announced that Japanese driver Yuki Tsunoda will be making his Formula 1 debut in 2021.

Fast-tracked to F1: Tsunoda was reportedly tapped to replace Daniil Kvyat next season, making him Formula One’s first Japanese driver since 2014, following Kamui Kobayashi, reports Japan Times.

The 20-year-old driver has just completed a remarkable Formula 2 season as a rookie.
He finished third in this year’s Formula Two Championship, landing seven podium finishes, including victories in two feature races and a sprint race.
In 2018, when the driver was still exclusively racing in Japan, he won the F4 Japanese Championship.
He made his racing debut in Europe in 2019, finishing 9th overall with three podiums and a win in the European FIA Formula 3 Championship.
Tsunoda will be partnered with 24-year-old French driver Pierre Gasly, who won the 2020 Italian Grand Prix at Monza back in September.

Ready for the big leagues: AlphaTauri principal Franz Tost revealed that they have been watching Tsunoda’s career and observed that the driver has “demonstrated the right mix of racing aggression and good technical understanding.”

“During the test in Imola in November when he drove our 2018 car, his lap times were very consistent over a race simulation, he progressed throughout the day and gave our engineers useful feedback,” he was quoted as saying.
Tsunoda also earned praises from his F2 team boss Trevor Carlin, who called him the best Japanese prospect since double Indianapolis 500 winner Takuma Sato.
In a statement, Tsunoda expressed happiness about the development, saying that racing in F1 had always been his goal.
“I realize that I will be carrying the hopes of a lot of Japanese F1 fans next year and I will be doing my best for them too,” he said.

Feature Image via Scuderia AlphaTauri

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