Yuki Tsunoda facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Yuki Tsunoda

Tsunoda in 2021
Born	(2000-05-11) 11 May 2000 (age 23) Sagamihara, Kanagawa, Japan
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	Japanese
Car number	22
Entries	( starts)
Championships	0
First entry	2021 Bahrain Grand Prix
Last entry	2019 Monaco Grand Prix
2023 position	14th (17 pts)

Yuki Tsunoda (Japanese: 角田 裕毅, Tsunoda Yūki, pronounced [tsɯnoda jɯ̟ᵝːkʲi]; born 11 May 2000) is a Japanese racing driver currently competing in Formula One for Scuderia AlphaTauri. Supported by Honda since 2016 through the Honda Formula Dream Project [ja], he was the 2018 Japanese F4 champion and in 2019 also received backing from Red Bull. He finished third in the 2020 Formula 2 Championship and made his Formula One debut in 2021 for AlphaTauri.

Early career

Karting

Born in Sagamihara, Kanagawa, Tsunoda started his professional karting career in 2010, joining the JAF Junior Karting Championship, before moving to the regional class in 2013 and to the national class in 2014.

Japanese Formula 4

2016

In 2016, Tsunoda graduated from Honda's Suzuka Circuit Racing School [ja] in the advanced formula class and became a member of the Honda Formula Dream Project [ja]. In the same year he made his single-seater debut in the F4 Japanese Championship with the Sutekina Racing Team for a one-off event in Suzuka. He claimed his first podium with 2nd in the first race and finished 4th in the second race.

In 2017, Tsunoda started his first full season of single-seater racing in the F4 Japanese Championship while also contesting in the regional East series of the JAF F4 Japanese Championship. At Okayama, he would win his first race. Tsunoda won the title of the regional championship while finishing third in the national Formula 4 championship. He contested both championships with Honda.

2018

Tsunoda continued to race in Japanese F4 in 2018 with the Honda Formula Dream Project team. Tsunoda amassed seven wins and claimed the title during the final race at Motegi, beating rival Teppei Natori by 14 points.

FIA Formula 3 Championship

Tsunoda racing at the 2019 Spielberg Formula 3 round

With Honda tying up with Red Bull in Formula One, Tsunoda also joined the Red Bull junior team alongside the Honda programme. At the end of 2018, Tsunoda was announced to join Jenzer Motorsport in the newly announced FIA Formula 3 Championship. He scored tenth place and his first point during the first race in Barcelona, and ninth in Race 2. More points came in Paul Ricard where he came away seventh in Race 1, but struggled to ninth in Race 2 from second. Tsunoda failed to score points in Austria, but came back during Race 2 in Silverstone with seventh. He scored points in Budapest, with ninth and sixth place. In Spa-Francorchamps, he qualified in an astonishing third place. The Japanese racer dropped to sixth in Race 1, but from third in Race 2, scored a breakthrough second place. Monza was fruitful for Tsunoda, finishing fourth on the road but was promoted to the podium following a penalty for Marcus Armstrong. In Race 2, a storming start from sixth moved him to third at the start. After passing Fabio Scherer, he would go by Jake Hughes on lap 15 and claim his only F3 win of the year. He finished ninth in the championship with 67 points, including three podiums and a win, scoring all of the Jenzer team's points during the season. Tsunoda finished 11th for the Macau Grand Prix.

Euroformula Open

Tsunoda also competed for Motopark in the Euroformula Open Championship, following the cancellation of Formula European Masters. After a second-place finish in the first race at Paul Ricard and achieving third place in the Pau Grand Prix, Tsunoda claimed his maiden championship win in the second race at Hockenheim. In Spa-Francorchamps, Tsunoda was involved in a collision with teammate Liam Lawson during the second race, having scored second place in Race 1. He took a double podium during the Monza final round. Despite missing two rounds due to F3 commitments, Tsunoda placed fourth in the standings with 151 points, one win and five more podiums.

Toyota Racing Series

Before the start of his 2020 season, Tsunoda partook in the 2020 Toyota Racing Series with M2 Competition alongside Liam Lawson. Tsunoda scored only one win throughout the campaign, during the second race at the opening round in Highlands Motorsport Park. Two further third places later landed him fourth place in the championship.

FIA Formula 2 Championship

In the beginning of 2020, Honda announced that Tsunoda will join Carlin to race in the FIA Formula 2 Championship alongside new Red Bull junior Jehan Daruvala. The season was set to start in Bahrain, but started in Austria in July due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He topped free practice on his debut, but only qualified 12th. His races were disappointing, colliding with Daruvala on the opening lap of the feature race saw him finish last, but recovered to 11th on Sunday. During the second Austrian round, Tsunoda stormed to his first pole. He would lead the race for much of the race under wet conditions, but encountered a radio problem that delayed his pit stop. He would pit two laps later than expected and drop to fourth place, but fought past the Virtuosi drivers for second place. More disappointment followed as a engine issue saw him drop out of the race on lap 10. Another disappointing round in Hungary rewarded him with zero points, with a 16 and 18th place.

Tsunoda qualified ninth in Silverstone, and made a masterclass charge, passing Christian Lundgaard on the last lap for third place. Another sprint race disappointment followed, as he was taken out by Callum Ilott on the opening lap. During the second Silverstone round, Tsunoda qualified tenth and moved up to sixth for the feature race. In the sprint race, he remained in third for most of the race, until lap 19 of 21, where the two Prema drivers ahead collided and promoted Tsunoda for his maiden win. Post-race, Tsunoda stated that "he had the potential for P1 even without late Prema crash". Tsunoda qualified sixth in Barcelona. Tsunoda would briefly lead on lap 30 after a safety car restart due to the frontrunners pitting again, but they caught up on fresher tyres, including fellow compartriot Nobuharu Matsushita, and he dropped to fourth. He again finished fourth in the sprint race.

Tsunoda took his second pole of the year in Spa-Francorchamps. After a slow pit stop during the feature race, Tsunoda would fall behind Nikita Mazepin but fought back to him by lap 20. Mazepin would push Tsunoda wide on the penultimate lap while defending, which earned the Russian a five-second time penalty. Tsunoda would be promoted to the win having finished second on the road. In the sprint race,Tsunoda finished in ninth as a penalty for hitting Ilott at the start saw him drop out of the points due to a time penalty. He secured second in qualifying for Monza. A slow start in the feature race dropped him to fifth, Tsunoda made it up by crossing the line in fourth place. In the sprint race, mechanical woes saw him out early. In Mugello, he qualified 11th and finished eighth on the road in the feature race, but was penalised for colliding with Dan Ticktum, dropping to 16th. His disappointing weekend continued in the sprint race, as he damaged his front wing hitting the back of Felipe Drugovich on the fourth last lap, and was forced to pit which dropped him to 20th.

In Sochi, Tsunoda claimed his third pole ahead of teammate Daruvala. He settled for second place after being overtaken by Mick Schumacher, although he would win a battle over Ilott for runners-up position on the last lap. In the sprint race, Tsunoda finished in sixth. Tsunoda sat third in the standings heading into the two-month break before the final two rounds, 44 points behind leader Schumacher. In Bahrain, Tsunoda spun out on his flying lap, which left him down in last. He made an incredible charge on the alternate strategy, charging to sixth. In the sprint race, Tsunoda suffered a puncture on lap 1 cause by contact with Marcus Armstrong which ruined his race, ending in 15th. He took pole for the second Bahrain round. Tsunoda had another feature race battle with Mazepin, but the Japanese driver would win out and take another victory. In the sprint race, a last lap charge passing Ticktum would seal second place. Overall. Tsunoda took three wins, four pole positions, seven podiums and finished third in the championship with 200 points.

Formula One

Tsunoda was signed by the Red Bull Junior Team for 2019 following his F4 Japanese Championship title. His first experience driving a Formula One car came in a November 2020 test session at Imola Circuit, driving the Toro Rosso STR13. The following month, he drove for AlphaTauri in the end-of-season rookie test at Yas Marina Circuit. He completed further test sessions in the STR14 at Imola Circuit and Misano Circuit over the winter break.

AlphaTauri (2021–)

2021 season

Tsunoda at the 2021 Austrian Grand Prix

Tsunoda replaced Daniil Kvyat and partnered Pierre Gasly at AlphaTauri for the 2021 season. His car number is 22, as he raced with number 11 during karting but the number was taken, hence he doubled it.

At the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, Tsunoda qualified 13th, despite being second fastest in Q1. He finished in ninth place, having overtaken Lance Stroll on the last lap. After the race, Ross Brawn, Formula One's technical director, hailed Tsunoda as "F1's best rookie for years". He targeted an appearance in the third qualifying session (Q3) for the next race, the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, but crashed in qualifying and started the race from the back. He made his way to ninth place before the race was red-flagged, but spun after the restart and finished 13th. He qualified 16th for the Spanish Grand Prix and later apologised after questioning whether he and teammate Gasly had "the same car". He went on to retire from the race with an electrical failure, his first F1 retirement.

He reached the Q3 for the first time at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, but crashed in the session, causing a red flag. He finished the race seventh, his best result so far, despite being "mad" after the race due to losing two positions at the red flag restart. Tsunoda crashed again in qualifying at the French Grand Prix, was forced to start from the pit lane and finished 13th. He reached Q3 again at the Styrian Grand Prix, qualifying eighth, but received a three-place grid penalty for impeding Valtteri Bottas. He finished in tenth place despite radio miscommunications. He again reached Q3 at the Austrian Grand Prix and achieved his best qualifying result thus far with seventh. He opted for a two-stop strategy and received penalties for crossing the pit entry line, failing to score points with a 12th-place finish. He secured a point with 10th place at the British Grand Prix, having started 16th and benefited from a late pit stop from Sergio Pérez. He again qualified 16th at the Hungarian Grand Prix, but avoided the lap 1 collisions and gained from Sebastian Vettel's disqualification to be classified sixth in the race, improving his highest F1 result.

Tsunoda qualified 15th at the Dutch Grand Prix, but he would fail to finish the race as he retired in the pits with a power unit issue. At the following race, the Italian Grand Prix, he collided with Robert Kubica in sprint qualifying and then failed to start the race due to brake issues. In the next seven Grands Prix, Tsunoda advanced to Q3 all but once. During the Turkish Grand Prix, he held back Lewis Hamilton for numerous laps but a spin later cost him a chance of points and he finished 14th. He started 10th at the United States Grand Prix, passed teammate Gasly and finished ninth, his first points since the summer break. He qualified ninth for the Mexico City Grand Prix, but was required to start at the back due to taking additional power unit elements. He caused controversy for potentially impeding the Red Bull drivers, but was not penalised. In the race, he was eliminated on the opening lap in a collision with Esteban Ocon. A collision with Lance Stroll at the São Paulo Grand Prix resulted in a time penalty and a 15th-place finish. He qualified in the top ten at the Qatar and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix, but failed to score points in either. He apologised for his role in a collision with Sebastian Vettel at the latter. He qualified eighth in the final race of the season, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix; notably, this was the first time all season that he outqualified teammate Gasly, who was eliminated in Q2. From this position, Tsunoda finished fourth and gained 12 points, his best ever result.

Tsunoda placed 14th in the drivers' championship with 32 points to Gasly's 110.

2022 season

Tsunoda at the 2022 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix

Tsunoda and Gasly were retained by AlphaTauri for the 2022 season. At the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, Tsunoda qualified 16th and improved to eighth in the race to score four points. A fuel issue prevented him from setting a qualifying time at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix; he then failed to start the race after a power unit failure. At the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Tsunoda qualified 16th, just ahead of Gasly, and finished 12th in the sprint. He made up places in the race and passed Sebastian Vettel late on for seventh place. He described the race as the best of his Formula One career. His first Q3 appearance of the season came at the Miami Grand Prix, where he qualified ninth. However an early pit stop and lack of pace meant that he would slip to 12th at the flag. He scored points for the third time in six races at the Spanish Grand Prix, finishing tenth, having started in 13th.

A streak of twelve races without scoring points followed. Tsunoda hit the wall in qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix, but manage to get into Q2 and qualify 11th. However, he finished the race 17th. Tsunoda qualified a brilliant eighth at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.He was running in seventh place until he was forced to pit for repairs after a DRS failure, which led him to finish down in a disappointing 13th place. After starting from the back due to an engine penalty, he crashed whilst exiting the pits at the Canadian Grand Prix. He had further woes at the British Grand Prix, first breaking his front wing during the lap 1 chaos and later collided with Gasly on lap 10. Tsunoda finished 13th, later apologised as he ended in 14th place. He qualified eighth for the French Grand Prix. However, a first-lap collision with Esteban Ocon resulted in Tsunoda's eventual retirement after a few laps. Having qualified 16th for the Hungarian Grand Prix, Tsunoda would struggle in the race, on route to 19th place, two laps down.

At the Belgian Grand Prix, Tsunoda started from the pit lane but managed to charge to 13th place. At the Dutch Grand Prix, Tsunoda started ninth, but retired with a differential issue. He had stopped at the side of the track and loosened his seatbelts before driving back to the pits, for which he was given his fifth reprimand of the season and therefore a grid penalty for the Italian Grand Prix. At that event, he received two penalty points and another grid penalty for failing to slow for yellow flags in practice. He finished 14th. At the Singapore Grand Prix, Tsunoda qualified tenth. He would lose two places after a slight mistake, before crashing out of the race on his own on lap 35. At his first home race during the Japanese Grand Prix, Tsunoda finished the race in 13th place, ahead of teammate Gasly.

Tsunoda scored a point at the United States Grand Prix where he started 19th, gained five places on the first lap and finished 10th. This ended his long streak of not scoring points. He was running 11th at the Mexico City Grand Prix but was eliminated in a collision with Daniel Ricciardo. At the São Paulo Grand Prix, an unusual glitch in the safety car system meant that Tsunoda drove to 17th place, the only driver who was lapped during the race. At the final race in Abu Dhabi, Tsunoda missed out on points with 11th place.

Tsunoda ended the season 17th in the drivers' championship with 12 points to Gasly's 23.

2023 season

Tsunoda at the 2023 Austrian Grand Prix

Tsunoda remained with AlphaTauri for the 2023 season, partnering rookie Nyck de Vries as Gasly left for Alpine. Tsunoda finished 11th at the Bahrain Grand Prix; he had a poor start to the race and finished just over one second behind Alex Albon. At the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, a safety car allowed Tsunoda to make his pit stop and jump up to eighth place. He was later passed by the two Alpine cars and then by Kevin Magnussen with five laps remaining, finishing 11th for the third race in succession. At the Australian Grand Prix, Tsunoda qualified 12th and ran as high as fifth when the race restarted after the second red flag, but was demoted to 11th when the order was reset after the third stoppage. A penalty for Carlos Sainz Jr. promoted him to tenth, earning his and AlphaTauri's first point of the year. Following the opening races, Tsunoda was praised for his performances.

He reached Q3 for the first time in 2023 at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Contact with teammate De Vries in the sprint caused him to hit a wall and eventually retire. He finished tenth in the race to score another point. At the Miami Grand Prix Tsunoda again finished 11th, closely behind Kevin Magnussen, after starting 17th. In the Monaco Grand Prix he advanced to Q3 and was running ninth when he developed brake issues, eventually dropping to 15th. He finished ninth at the Spanish Grand Prix but received a penalty for forcing Zhou Guanyu off the track, dropping him outside the points. Tsunoda later described the penalty as "ridiculous" and accused Zhou of pretending to be forced off. At the Austrian Grand Prix, his front wing broke in a collision with Esteban Ocon and he received multiple penalties post-race for track limits infringements.

From the Hungarian Grand Prix, Tsunoda was partnered with Daniel Ricciardo after De Vries was dropped by the team. He finished the race 15th, two places behind Ricciardo. He ran as high as sixth during the early laps of the Belgian Grand Prix and finished tenth, scoring his first points since April. Tsunoda was joined at AlphaTauri by Liam Lawson from the Dutch Grand Prix onwards after Ricciardo broke his hand. He ended the race behind Lawson in 15th place, having run well in the top 10 during the early stages in a dry-wet race. Tsunoda qualified 11th at the Italian Grand Prix but failed to take the start as his engine failed during the formation lap. He was then eliminated on lap one of the Singapore Grand Prix with damage from a collision with Sergio Pérez. Tsunoda made it to Q3 and qualified ninth at his home race during the Japanese Grand Prix, much to the delight of the Japanese fans. However, he went backwards on race day as he fell out of the points to 12th place at the end, finishing behind teammate Lawson.

At the United States Grand Prix, Tsunoda benefitted a position to tenth place after Fernando Alonso retired, and then pitted late on to set his first fastest lap. Having scored his first points since the summer break, this was further aided after Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were disqualified, promoting Tsunoda to eighth. He started from the back at the Mexico City Grand Prix after taking additional power unit elements. After surprisingly made his points midway through the race, his charge halted when he was tagged in a spin by Oscar Piastri, and was left to rue what could have been in 12th. In Brazil, Tsunoda was knocked of Q1 in 16th. However, in the sprint, his pace was much more promising, finishing sixth after an overtake on Hamilton. In the race, Tsunoda advanced to tenth early on at the start, but despite a tiny mistake, he was able to secure ninth place.

2024 season

The soon-to-be rebranded AlphaTauri team retained Tsunoda for the 2024 season alongside Ricciardo.

Karting record

Karting career summary

Racing record

Career summary

See also

In Spanish: Yuki Tsunoda para niños