Yuki Tsunoda

Following a number of incidents in his first F1 season, particularly in qualifying, Tsunoda initially struggled to live up to his impressive debut at Bahrain in which he scored ninth place.
F1 managing director of motorsport Ross Brawn even labelled Tsunoda as F1's "best rookie for years" following his immediate breakthrough result, before a string of difficult races left the Japanese driver ...

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After giving AlphaTauri teammate Pierre Gasly a tow in the final run of Q3, Tsunoda tried to get out of the way of Perez and Verstappen as both were closing during their last flying laps of qualifying.
Tsunoda went off-track at the esses to get out of Perez’s way, only to distract the Mexican driver and cause him to go off. Verstappen then backed off his lap after seeing two cars off ahead of ...

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Tsunoda found himself in the firing line after qualifying for the Mexican Grand Prix when he was accused of having wrecked the Q3 hopes of Red Bull duo Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen when he ran off the track.
Both Perez and Verstappen were unhappy with the Japanese driver, while Horner himself caused a stir when he said that his drivers had been "Tsunoda'd".
The nature of the attacks on ...

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Tsunoda came under fire from Red Bull's drivers and management after him running off track in the closing stages of Q3 was blamed for wrecking the final laps of Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen.
But Tost is adamant that Tsunoda did absolutely nothing wrong, and was absolutely right to dive off the circuit to try to get out of the way of the faster cars behind him.
"I absolutely don't ...

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The AlphaTauri driver was deemed to have ruined the crucial final qualifying laps of both drivers from the sister Red Bull Racing team, and as such had the massed ranks of Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen fans on his case.
But what actually happened in those final moments of qualifying, and was the Japanese driver really at fault?
In fact it was an unusual set of circumstances. While it often ...

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Red Bull entered qualifying as the favourite for pole position after comfortably taking a 1-2 finish in final practice, led by Perez, as Mercedes finished over half a second off the pace.
But qualifying saw Mercedes strike back by locking out the front row of the grid in Q3 as Valtteri Bottas pipped teammate Lewis Hamilton to pole.
Verstappen was left frustrated in third - more than ...

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Red Bull went into qualifying at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez as the favourite for pole after sweeping to a 1-2 finish in final practice, led by Sergio Perez.
But Mercedes upstaged Red Bull by topping all three stages of qualifying, with Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton taking first and second after the opening runs in Q3.
Verstappen hoped to make up the 0.350s gap to Bottas by getting ...

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With Albon’s commitments to race in the DTM this season having come to an end, AlphaTauri boss Franz Tost revealed at the Mexican Grand Prix that the Thai driver was now assisting Tsunoda.
“It's true,” said Tost. “Alex comes to Yuki, talks with him, explains him the track, whatever, and Yuki asks [questions]. It's a talk between drivers.
“I think that's quite positive for Yuki ...

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Both Tsunoda and Stroll are taking a fourth internal combustion engine, turbocharger and MGU-H for the event from their respective engine manufacturers Honda and Mercedes.
Tsunoda will also use a fourth MGU-K system, while Stroll will add a third suite of control electronics to his pool.
With the engine limit at three per season, that means both drivers will drop to the back of the grid for ...

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The Japanese driver qualified 10th and finished ninth in Austin, behind the eight cars from the Red Bull, Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren teams. He was one of only two drivers to qualify and start on the unfavoured soft tyres, along with Carlos Sainz.
It was the first time he had made the top 10 since he finished sixth in the Hungarian GP.
"It was a good step," he said. "Long time no points ...

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Rookie Tsunoda arrived in F1 with high expectations, but has endured an erratic campaign so far, with several crashes in the first half of the season and being overshadowed by teammate Pierre Gasly.
AlphaTauri announced last week that it would retain both Gasly and Tsunoda for 2022, and the Japanese driver admitted he was surprised to have his contract extended given his on-track performances ...

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The Red Bull-owned AlphaTauri squad announced earlier this week that it would be retaining the same driver line-up of Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly for 2022.
But after a rookie campaign for Tsunoda that has been blighted by a number of crashes, the young Japanese racer was aware of the risk that his bosses could lose faith in him.
Speaking ahead of the Italian Grand Prix, Tsunoda said: "To be ...

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Gasly re-joined the Faenza team halfway through the 2019 season after being demoted by Red Bull.
The Frenchman gradually rebuilt his confidence and has become one of the standout performers over the past 18 months, taking his first ever win at the 2020 Italian Grand Prix and almost single-handedly keeping AlphaTauri in the battle for fifth in the 2021 constructors' championship.
Highly rated ...

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Tsunoda stepped up to F1 at the start of the year after finishing third in Formula 2 last year, but has experienced an up-and-down first half-season in grand prix racing.
The Japanese driver crashed out of qualifying at Imola before spinning in the race when bound for points, and also had Saturday incidents in Azerbaijan and France.
Tsunoda acknowledged that he needed to "calm down" after ...

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The rookie burst onto the F1 scene winning over plenty of fans with his aggressive driving style in the opening races, highlighted by a series of impressive overtakes on his way to ninth on debut in Bahrain.
However, in the races that followed, the FIA Formula 2 graduate struggled, with his approach catching him out, most notably at Imola when he crashed out of qualifying and then spun in the ...

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Tsunoda started his rookie year operating out of the UK, after impressing Red Bull bosses by finishing third overall in FIA Formula 2 last season to secure an F1 graduation with AlphaTauri.
The Japanese driver then earned high praise by starring on his debut at the Bahrain season opener after charging through to score points in ninth.
However, he failed to score in the next three races, with ...

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The Japanese rookie spun out and crashed at the high-speed left-hander at Turn 4 with 15 minutes remaining in FP1, hitting the barrier with the rear of his AlphaTauri car.
While Tsunoda was able to walk away from the crash, the rear of his car was left with significant damage that meant his crew was busy completing repairs for much of the afternoon.
It limited Tsunoda to just a single timed ...

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The rookie has had a difficult season thus far, struggling to match the one-lap pace of his team mate Pierre Gasly, and enjoying mixed fortunes in races.
Silverstone was another tough test for him as he had just one free practice session on Friday before qualifying and parc ferme rules were applied.
Neither AlphaTauri driver was happy with the car once its setup was fixed, with Gasly having ...

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Red Bull and Honda junior Tsunoda impressed on debut in Bahrain at the start of the year by finishing ninth, but went four races without points after struggling in qualifying. A spin in Q1 at the French Grand Prix marked his third qualifying crash in seven races.
Red Bull looked to help Tsunoda's development and focus by moving him from the UK to Faenza in Italy, so he could be closer to ...

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Tsunoda matched his best F1 qualifying result to date by taking eighth place in Q3 at the Red Bull Ring, reaching the final stage of the session for the second time in three races.
But the AlphaTauri driver faced a post-qualifying investigation from the stewards after Bottas felt he had been blocked during one of his Q3 hot laps, calling Tsunoda a "f**king idiot" over the ...

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The Japanese rookie has had a rollercoaster season for AlphaTauri so far, after making the jump up to grand prix racing from Formula 2.
After impressing on his debut in Bahrain, he endured more difficult times with a big qualifying crash at Imola, criticised his team after a frustrating time in Spain and having a practice smash in Monaco.
He was back in the points at the Azerbaijan Grand ...

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Tsunoda started the Azerbaijan race from seventh on the grid despite a crash in the final part of qualifying, and after a strong run he was sixth at the time of the late red flag.
At the restart gained a spot when Lewis Hamilton went straight on at the first corner, but over the rest of the lap he lost places to both Lando Norris and Fernando Alonso before claiming seventh at the flag.
Tost ...

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In the wake of some difficult early season races for AlphaTauri, a decision was taken for Tsunoda to be relocated from the UK to Faenza so he could be closer to his crew.
Team boss Franz Tost thinks the move will help fast track Tsunoda's learning, and he has personally come up with an intense daily schedule to ensure the youngster is fully focused on what he needs to do.
"The daily routine ...

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Tsunoda moved into F1 for 2021 after finishing third in last year’s F2 championship, and starred on debut with a charge through to ninth place in Bahrain.
But the Japanese driver has failed to score any points since then, with a notable low point coming at Imola when he crashed out of qualifying and then spun in the race while inside the points.
Red Bull advisor Marko was instrumental in ...

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Tsunoda's heated and often expletive-ridden team radio messages attracted a lot of attention this season and drew mixed responses from fans and observers.
Speaking on F1's Beyond The Grid podcast, Tsunoda accepted that his temper behind the wheel and his team radio communications are a "main topic" to improve in the coming races, admitting he doesn't know why he gets so hot under the ...

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