Hideki Noda, F1 driver

Tost has spent 18 years at the helm of the Faenza outfit formerly known as Toro Rosso. In its role as a Red Bull junior team, Tost has notably presided over Sebastian Vettel, Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo, Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon.He was also a big backer of Tsunoda, who in 2024 will contest his fourth season for the team. The current AlphaTauri racer reckons Tost’s “backup” was key ...

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Helped by floor updates to the AT04, Tsunoda qualified sixth at the Yas Marina track, and he held onto the position in the early laps, rising up the order as the frontrunners pitted.When Charles Leclerc came in, Tsunoda took over the lead for five laps, before making his late first and only stop.He was only the second Japanese driver to lead a grand prix after Takuma Sato enjoyed a brief spell in ...

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Prior to the United States Grand Prix last month, AlphaTauri sat bottom of the teams’ standings. It ran seven points adrift of ninth-placed Haas with only five rounds remaining.But for Austin, the team debuted a substantial update package that included a new floor, revised engine cover bodywork plus suspension and chassis geometry to increase downforce.Since its introduction, AlphaTauri has ...

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Perez has a contract with Red Bull for 2024 but amid his protracted run of poor form and the team's track record for mid-season driver changes, there remains plenty of uncertainty over his F1 future.This peaked following the Mexican Grand Prix last weekend. Fifth-starting Perez tangled with Charles Leclerc into Turn 1 to trigger his retirement, while Ricciardo excelled by qualifying fourth and ...

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After several side-by-side battles, Tsunoda attempted to finally pass the McLaren rookie for seventh place on lap 49 of 71 with the aid of DRS into Turn 1.But as he moved around the outside, his right-rear wheel tagged Piastri's front left to trigger a spin. He re-joined the track in 16th and finished in 12th.Although Tsunoda defended his attempted overtake on Piastri, he has now revealed that his ...

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Piastri made contact with Yuki Tsunoda twice during a fraught battle in the second part of the race.On the second clash, the AlphaTauri driver was pitched off the road when he tried to pass on the outside at Turn 1. The FIA investigated the incident but ultimately took no further action.A few laps later Piastri was asked to let Norris by so that the British driver could attack the cars ahead in ...

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The Japanese driver initially thought that there must be something wrong with his car before he realised that he was being teed up for a shot at the fastest lap.Tsunoda was running in 10th place in the closing laps when a pitstop window opened up behind him, helped by the chasing Alex Albon having a track limits time penalty.That gave the chance to have a free stop for soft tyres, and he duly ...

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Ricciardo, who was paid to leave McLaren for 2023, returned to front-line F1 duty in Hungary to replace sacked AlphaTauri driver Nyck de Vries.But he sustained a broken bone in his left hand in a practice crash at Zandvoort to leave substitute Liam Lawson to fill in for five rounds.Ricciardo returns to the cockpit this weekend for the United States Grand Prix. Now that he and Tsunoda have signed ...

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The Japanese driver has just had his contract at AlphaTauri extended for another year, with him set to line-up alongside Daniel Ricciardo.With much intrigue about what Red Bull will do with its own second seat in 2025 if Sergio Perez is not retained, next season could be make or break for Tsunoda if he is ever going to get the chance to step up.Tsunoda’s situation does have an added complication ...

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As part of its return to the F1 calendar following an inaugural event in 2021, Qatar race organisers have undertaken a massive overhaul of the Lusail venue.On top of a complete resurfacing, the first time that has happened since the venue was built in 2004, all the kerbs around the track have been revised.This was initially viewed as a positive step, because back at the 2021 Qatar Grand Prix there ...

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Tsunoda will be handed a fourth season at the Faenza outfit, while the currently injured Ricciardo will get a full season with the team after his mid-season comeback this summer.AlphaTauri's driver decision had been made more complicated in recent weeks thanks to reserve driver Lawson's impressive performances as Ricciardo's replacement.While the Australian recovers from a broken hand sustained in ...

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While the New Zealander has impressed greatly during his stand-in performances since the Dutch Grand Prix as a replacement for Daniel Ricciardo, it is looking unlikely that it has been enough to secure him a full-time F1 ride.With Red Bull already eager to hand Ricciardo a seat at AlphaTauri next season, Lawson's only real hope of getting a 2024 drive was for the squad to choose him over incumbent ...

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The stewards have ruled that the AlphaTauri driver failed to satisfactorily move off the dry racing line through Turn 13 during Q2 while preparing for a push lap.In doing so, he impeded seven-time world champion Hamilton, who subsequently failed to progress into the top 10 shootout and will start 13th.Tsunoda, who ran 14th fastest, will therefore drop provisionally behind Nico Hulkenberg, Zhou ...

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For the first 10 rounds of the season, attention at AlphaTauri was biased towards full-time rookie Nyck de Vries and his struggles to step up to F1 as he drew criticism from Red Bull bosses Christian Horner and Helmut Marko.The FIA Formula 2 and Formula E champion was sacked after Silverstone to be replaced by eight-time grand prix winner Ricciardo. The Australian generated such media interest ...

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De Vries was dropped by the Faenza team last week in favour of Daniel Ricciardo just 10 races into his rookie season.Tsunoda says he learned a lot from De Vries despite being the more experienced driver in F1 terms, specifically in terms of how detailed feedback can be.The 2013 Rush movie highlighted Lauda’s acute sensitivity to the behaviour of both road and racing cars, and Tsunoda said that ...

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The team submitted eight technical changes to the FIA for the Silverstone weekend.
These are led by a reworked floor with a raised edge, a tweaked diffuser to reduce how much the wake from the rear tyres distorts the airflow and wider engine cover bodywork.
An extra winglet has been added to the rear suspension wishbone and a revised rear and beam wing introduced to reduce drag and improve ...

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De Vries has faced a rough first third of his rookie season, struggling to get on Tsunoda's pace as a lack of consistency has held him back across the first eight races.
He is one of two drivers yet to register points, alongside fellow rookie Logan Sargeant, although that is also partly due to an underperforming AT04.
Pressure on De Vries has already started mounting, with Red Bull advisor ...

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Earlier this month, it was announced that retired four-time F1 world champion Vettel will make his return to the cockpit of grand prix machinery for the showcase event in Germany on 9 September.
He will pilot the Red Bull RB7 - an Adrian Newey-designed car that claimed 12 race wins in addition to securing 18 of the 19 available pole positions - in which he dominated the 2011 season.
For the ...

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Tsunoda had been well-placed to score points in the Monaco Grand Prix last month as he ran ninth with 20 laps to go, but in the final stages of the rain-hit race, he was passed by both McLarens and continued to slip down the order.
He eventually finished in 15th as rookie team-mate Nyck de Vries grabbed 12th.
The Japanese racer noticeably struggled with his brakes, voiced his ...

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On lap 56 of 66 in a round dominated by Red Bull driver Max Verstappen, Alfa Romeo racer Zhou used DRS to challenge Tsunoda for ninth place around the outside into the Turn 1 right-hander.
But as the corner transitioned into Turn 2, Zhou appeared to jink his machine to the left to then take to the escape road before he rejoined the circuit several car lengths behind Tsunoda.
The FIA stewards ...

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Helmut Marko - the advisor to AlphaTauri team owner Red Bull - revealed earlier this week that, contrary to speculation, the Faenza team will not be sold but instead expand its UK presence.
Speaking to Motorsport.com's sister website Formel1.de, Marko explained that the team’s Italian base will remain the main hub of the operation but that the stature of its Bicester outpost, home to its ...

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Tsunoda experienced a tough start to his 2021 maiden campaign marked by crashes and a lack of consistency, which prompted a mid-season change of approach and a move to Faenza to be closer to his Italian team.
The 23-year-old showed the necessary improvement to stay on board for 2022 but says that came at a cost as he opened up about the "contract stress" that made him suffer throughout last ...

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Tsunoda was forced to retire from the Saturday race in Azerbaijan after a strange opening two laps to the sprint.
The Japanese brushed the wall on the opening lap after clashing with team-mate Nyck de Vries and, as he returned to the pits, his right rear tyre flew off the rim, briefly rolling down the track.
Having made it back to the pits for a change of tyres, Tsunoda then faced fresh ...

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Tsunoda started two places ahead de Vries but on the first lap the Dutchman got past him as the pair exited Turn 2.
The Japanese driver then had a look down the outside at Turn 3, but on the exit de Vries took his line and clipped his team-mate’s front wing.
While de Vries continued unscathed Tsunoda lost the left side part of the wing and immediately told the team that he had to ...

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As revealed by Motorsport.com, a loophole has emerged in the new sprint format regulations regarding the usage of tyres in the shootout.
Drivers are obliged to use one set of new medium tyres in SQ1, another new set of mediums in SQ2, and then a set of new softs in SQ3.
The intention was that all teams would have to save those three new sets to use on Saturday.
However the rules as ...

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