F1 | Yuki Tsunoda new AlphaTauri driver for the 2021 season

Through a press release published on its official website, AlphaTauri has formalized the entry of Yuki Tsunoda within the official line-up for the 2021 season. The Japanese, born in 2000 and protagonist in the last Formula 2 championship, will line up at alongside Pierre Gasly and will take the place of Daniil Kvyat, who says goodbye to the Scuderia di Faenza again after his "stormy" farewell in 2017.

This is extremely important news for all of Japanese motorsport, given that a Japanese player, after several years of forced "break", will return to competing at the wheel of a Formula 1 car. The latest, in chronological order, was Kamui Kobayashi with Caterham.

Yuki Tsunoda, the profile

Yuki is part of both the Red Bull Junior Team and Honda's Young Driver Program and finished third in this year's FIA Formula 2 championship, contested alongside Carlin. This result allows the 1-year-old from Kanagawa, Japan, to be eligible for the Formula 4 Super License. After winning the Japanese F2018 championship in 3, Yuki moved to Europe the following year to compete in the nascent FIA Formula XNUMX championship , finishing the season in ninth position with three podiums and a victory.

In 2020 he moved to Formula 2, where he enjoyed a great season characterized by an incredible seven podiums, two victories in the Feature Race and one in the Sprint Race. He recently covered 300 kilometers in a 1 Formula 2018 car during a test at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola, as well as driving for us at the Young Driver Test in Abu Dhabi on 15 December. The last time a Japanese driver raced in Formula 1 was at the 2014 Abu Dhabi GP.