Yuki Tsunoda

Since making his F1 debut at the start of 2021, Tsunoda has gained a reputation for being very vocal over the radio and often shouting about incidents, leading to quotes such as “traffic paradise” that have since become part of the paddock’s lexicon.
Red Bull advisor Marko oversees all of the marque’s junior drivers, including Tsunoda at AlphaTauri, and said ahead of the Austrian Grand ...

read on

In a recent Red Bull interview, the team's motorsport advisor Helmut Marko praised Tsunoda's speed but said the Japanese sophomore was "prone to outbursts" and that "no one can blow their top" like him.
Tsunoda, who currently sits 16th in the standings on 11 points, is famous for his sweary radio messages during race weekends, with Red Bull recently bringing in a new psychologist to help him ...

read on

Pierre Gasly has already been officially confirmed by the team for next season, but Tsunoda’s position is not yet secure, with his clash with Gasly in the British GP the biggest black mark against him.
Gasly has had the upper hand in qualifying, but the two drivers have been closer in terms of race results, with the Frenchman scoring 16 points thus far in 2022, and Tsunoda logging 11.
Red ...

read on

Tsunoda struggled at Red Bull's sister team AlphaTauri in his 2021 debut season, but the brand continued investing in him by relocating him to Italy closer to the team's Faenza factory and it extended his stay in F1 for a second season.
While Tsunoda has shown some improvement during a sophomore year in which his team has found it harder to keep up with its midfield rivals, the ...

read on

The pair were running in seventh and eighth at the time of their clash, which led to Gasly's eventual retirement and a lowly 14th place finish for Tsunoda.
Onboard footage revealed that their battle first began to heat up at Stowe on lap 10, with Gasly's graining soft tyres having allowed his teammate to close up.
Tsunoda went down the inside and Gasly ran wide off the circuit but still ...

read on

The Japanese driver has encountered a spate of engine problems over the opening phase of the season that left him on the verge of a penalty.
But ahead of the Montreal race, his AlphaTauri team has elected to break his season’s limit and fit all-new Red Bull components for the weekend.
Going over his limit of internal combustion engine, turbocharger, MGU-H and MGU-K means that Tsunoda will ...

read on

Following the Monaco Grand Prix, it was clarified that the governing body has altered its approach for 2022 when it comes to dealing with what is deemed a breach of rules for drivers crossing the lines.
Whereas in the past drivers had to keep completely to one side of the line, Ferrari's failed protest against Max Verstappen in Monaco confirmed that tweaks to the FIA rule book for 2022 means ...

read on

Tsunoda was heard complaining over the radio to his AlphaTauri F1 team members throughout both sessions in Monaco on Friday, typically when he came across other cars that would ruin his laps.
The Japanese driver was heard saying: “Everyone just… come on please!” at one point when his lap was compromised. He ended FP2 in 10th place, half a second down on teammate Pierre Gasly.
“FP1, I ...

read on

Tsunoda was summoned by the stewards after second practice for the Monaco Grand Prix over an incident with Magnussen exiting the tunnel.
Heading into the Nouvelle Chicane, Magnussen went straight on and ran close to Tsunoda as the AlphaTauri driver negotiated the left-hand turn.
The stewards met with both drivers following the conclusion of practice, and found that Tsunoda had been given ...

read on

Tsunoda was brought into Red Bull's second team amid plenty of expectation but struggled to adapt to F1 in the first half of 2021 which was marred by plenty of mistakes.
But following a summer move to Italy to be closer to the team's Faenza base, Tsunoda gradually started improving, culminating in a fourth place at Abu Dhabi, his best result so far.
That positive trend continued in 2022's ...

read on

Tost’s frustration with rookie Tsunoda’s apparent lack of commitment to training and preparation in 2021 features heavily in an episode of the latest Drive to Survive series.
Part way through the season Tsunoda moved from Milton Keynes – where he was based to have easy access to the Red Bull simulator – to a new home close to AlphaTauri’s Faenza factory.
As well as spending more ...

read on

As part of grand prix racing's rules overhaul, which includes a shift to ground effect cars, Pirelli is also moving to different sized tyres.
It has ditched the previous 13-inch rubber for 18-inches, which is believes is much closer to what is relevant to road going cars.
F2 made the switch to 18 inches back in 2020, when Yuki Tsunoda had an impressive rookie campaign, and the Japanese ...

read on

Tsunoda showed flashes of speed and promise in 2021 but his rookie season was also marred by various crashes and errors as the Japanese youngster was overshadowed by teammate Pierre Gasly.
Tsunoda raised eyebrows with a ninth place on his Bahrain debut but then struggled to build on that result.
While Gasly consistently raked in the points to keep AlphaTauri in the fight for fifth in the ...

read on

But despite a rollercoaster of a rookie F1 campaign in 2021, from the highs of a headline-grabbing first race in Bahrain to the lows of a run of crashes that risked his future, the Japanese star never shied away from owning up to the errors of his ways.
Instead, Tsunoda admitted that a combination of over-confidence and a lack of application helped trigger a sequence of incidents that left his ...

read on

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 ...

read on

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 ...

read on

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 ...

read on

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 ...

read on

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 ...

read on

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 ...

read on

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 ...

read on

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 ...

read on

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 ...

read on

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 ...

read on

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 ...

read on