FAENZA, Italy – Officials from Scuderia AlphaTauri have announced that Japan’s Yuki Tsunoda will race as a teammate to Pierre Gasly next year in Formula One competition.
Tsunoda is part of both the Red Bull Junior Team and the Honda’s Young Driver Program and finished third in this year’s FIA Formula 2 Championship driving for Carlin. That result meant the 20-year-old from Kanagawa, Japan, qualified for an F-1 Super License.
After winning the F4 Japanese Championship in 2018, Tsunoda moved to Europe the following year to compete in the newly-formed FIA Formula 3 Championship, ending the season in ninth place in points with three podiums and a win.
He graduated to Formula 2 for 2020 and enjoyed a successful season, amassing seven podiums, two feature race victories and a sprint race win.
The last time a Japanese driver raced in F-1 was when Kamui Kobayashi took part in the 2014 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
“Like most racing drivers, it has always been my goal to race in Formula 1, so I am very happy with this news. I want to thank Scuderia AlphaTauri, Red Bull and Dr. Marko for giving me this opportunity, and of course everyone from Honda, for all their support so far in my career, giving me great opportunities to race in Europe,” Tsunoda said. “I must also thank the teams that I have raced with to get to this point, particularly Carlin, with whom I have learned so much this year. I realize that I will be carrying the hopes of a lot of Japanese F-1 fans next year and I will be doing my best for them too.”
Tsunoda recently ran 300 kilometers in a 2018 Formula 1 car during a test at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari Circuit in Imola, as well as drove for Scuderia AlphaTauri at the Young Driver Test in Abu Dhabi on Dec. 15.
“Red Bull has been following Yuki’s career for a while now and I am sure he will be a great asset to our team,” team principal Franz Tost added. “Watching him in Formula 2 this year, he 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. In addition, his integration with the Honda engineers has been seamless, which certainly helps.
“At the test in Abu Dhabi this week, he proved to be a fast learner and that he is ready to make the step to Formula One.”