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