Yuki Tsunoda, F1 driver

The Japanese driver has qualified in the top 10 for the last three races, outpacing his more experienced team-mate Daniel Ricciardo.He secured a seventh-place finish in Australia, helped by the retirements of Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton and a penalty for Fernando Alonso.Tsunoda then followed up with 10th on merit at his home race in Suzuka, making up for a poor initial start by performing ...

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Now contesting his fourth top-flight season, Tsunoda has gained a reputation for airing his emotions in public via punchy, sometimes expletive-filled team radio messages.He opened up about “getting heating moments in my brain” in response to a pitwall call to fall behind team-mate Daniel Ricciardo, which he initially refused, in the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix last month.But the Japanese ...

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RB man Tsunoda broke through the apparent barrier between F1's top and bottom five teams by beating both Aston Martins in Melbourne qualifying. He also outqualified Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton by claiming eighth on the starting grid, just narrowly behind Mercedes' George Russell.The Japanese driver couldn't keep the faster Astons of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll behind in the race, but a ...

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Heading into this season, the expectation was that a strong campaign for Ricciardo would make him the favourite to replace out-of-contract Sergio Perez alongside Max Verstappen at Red Bull in 2025.However, the Australian has been outqualified on all three occasions so far in 2024 by RB team-mate Tsunoda - who also pipped him in the one-lap head-to-head in three of the final five races of last ...

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Ricciardo was initially 12th in Q1 and thus safely through to Q2 before losing his lap time to a track limits offence, which dropped him down to 18th.However, even without the penalty he couldn't match the pace of Tsunoda, who progressed through the three sessions to qualify eighth.The Australian, outqualified by his team-mate in every event so far this year, admitted he was left "puzzled" at his ...

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With RB having been relaunched this year under new management, owner Red Bull had hoped the team would deliver progress on track to fight nearer the front of the field.But a difficult start to the campaign, with RB fighting in the second half of the pack, has left both Tsunoda and Ricciardo unable to finish in the top ten so far.And, with both having come into the year hoping to put themselves in ...

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Magnussen's own Saudi Arabian Grand Prix was ruined by incurring an initial 10-second penalty for contact with Alex Albon in the Williams.His focus then shifted to holding up others so team-mate Nico Hulkenberg, who hadn't stopped under an early safety car, could pull out a gap and claim 10th. Crucial to that strategy was overtaking the RB of Yuki Tsunoda on lap 17, which Magnussen did by leaving ...

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Tsunoda was asked to let Ricciardo past in the closing laps as the Australian was on fresh soft tyres, and potentially in a position to challenge the cars ahead.Tsunoda queried the call and was reluctant to comply, but he eventually did. He was then frustrated to see that Ricciardo didn’t make any further progress.After the flag he made his feelings clear by passing Ricciardo and swerving ...

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The Italian outfit went into the race knowing that Ricciardo would probably be on a more favourable set of new soft tyres in the closing stages, and that there could be a scenario where he found himself behind Tsunoda on hards.That’s exactly what transpired, and Tsunoda expressed his displeasure when asked to move over and give Ricciardo a shot at passing Kevin Magnussen up ahead.In the end ...

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Tsunoda was hunting down Kevin Magnussen for 12th place on hard tyres while team-mate Ricciardo was closing in on both of them on softs.On lap 50, RB asked Tsunoda to concede position to his team-mate so that Ricciardo could attack the Haas driver on the faster tyre compound, which the Japanese driver initially disputed, but belatedly swapped places a lap later.Ricciardo was unable to overtake ...

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On Thursday, Tsunoda and team-mate Daniel Ricciardo logged their first miles during a shakedown and filming day at the Italian circuit following a glitzy launch in Las Vegas the previous week, where the former AlphaTauri team presented its all-new identity as Visa Cash App RB.Tsunoda said the new car already feels like a significant improvement over the car that finished only eighth in the ...

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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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