A Japanese driver will again appear in Formula 1 for the 2021 season, the first time in 6 years of the Formula 1 World Championship. He is Yuki Tsunoda, a member of the Honda’s Junior Driver program, who has been given a drive with Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda.
Third in 2020 F2 championship
The 20-year old is also a member of the Red Bull Junior Team and this year has been racing for the Carlin team in the FIA Formula 2 championship, regarded as the main feeder series for Formula 1. In his rookie F2 season, Tsunoda took 3 wins, finished on the podium a further 4 times and ended the year in third place overall in the championship. The points collected were enough for him to be granted a Formula 1 super license.
He also completed a test in a 2018 Formula 1 car at Imola in early November and recently took part in the Young Driver Test in Abu Dhabi, driving for his new team.
“Like most racing drivers, it has always been my goal to race in Formula 1, so I am very. I want to thank Scuderia AlphaTauri, Red Bull and Dr. Helmut 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,” said Tsunoda who, like many F1 drivers, got started in karting.
Fast learner
“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. 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, he proved to be a fast learner and that he is ready to make the step to Formula 1,” said Franz Tost, Team Principal of Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda.
Tsunoda will be the 18th Japanese driver to race in F1. The last time a Japanese driver took part was in 2014 when Kamui Kobayashi drove for the Caterham team. Prior to that, Kobayashi had been with the Toyota and Sauber teams between 2009 and 2012.
While there will again be a driver from Japan next year, it will also be Honda’s last year in the Formula One World Championship as a power unit supplier. The carmaker, which was the first Japanese manufacturer to participate in Formula 1 in the 1960s, announced its decision in early October, explaining that it is being done in order to concentrate corporate resources on research and development of new power units and energy technologies.
