In 2020, as part of the Red Bull Junior Team and Honda’s young driver programme, Yuki Tsunoda finished a sensational third in the FIA Formula 2 Championship. He took three wins, four pole positions and four podiums. A great season saw him win the Anthoine Hubert Award for the best performance by a rookie. An impressive year saw him pick up enough points for a super license and a race seat with our team in 2021 (Scuderia AlphaTauri). It’s a dream come true for Yuki who has wanted to race since he watched kart races with his father at the age of four, at the Nakai kart track in Japan. As with many racing drivers, his father was a big influence on Yuki’s chosen career as he was his kart mechanic. From 2009 to 2016, Yuki raced in the main karting categories in his homeland, winning several titles.
His career was boosted in 2018, when he won the Japanese Formula 4 Championship at this third attempt. The success sent him on his way to Europe where, in 2019, he joined the Red Bull Junior Team and made his debut in the FIA Formula 3 Championship, finishing the year in ninth place. In 2020, he moved up to Formula 2, scoring 200 points, just 15 behind the winner, Mick Schumacher. He first tried a Formula 1 car in November 2020 at the Enzo e Dino Ferrari circuit in Imola, a few days after the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. At the wheel of one of our 2018 cars, Yuki was soon lapping consistently and proved he could adapt to what was a completely new type of car for him. On 15 December, a couple of days after the 2020 F1 season finale in Abu Dhabi, Yuki once again showed what he could do at the wheel of the AT01, our first AlphaTauri era car, during the Young Driver Test at the Yas Marina Circuit.
In 2021, Yuki Tsunoda made his Formula 1 debut with us, as team-mate to Pierre Gasly. He scored points on his debut, finishing ninth at the opening round of the season in Bahrain. Over the course of his rookie season he amassed 32 points, his best result being a fourth place in the final round, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix proving just how much progress he made over the year. There was more to come from Tsunoda whose strong showing secured him the drive with our team for the following seasons, being confirmed for 2022, 23 and 24.
