Yuki Tsunoda confirmed at AlphaTauri for 2021

AlphaTauri

Tsunoda confirmed at AlphaTauri for 2021

A Japanese driver will race in Formula 1 for the first time since 2014

Sam Hall

Wednesday 16 December 2020 09:17 Updated: 11:58

AlphaTauri has confirmed Japanese driver Yuki Tsunoda will replace Daniil Kvyat in the team for the 2021 Formula 1 season.

Tsunoda becomes the first Japanese driver to race in F1 since Kamui Kobayashi raced for Caterham in 2014.

The 20-year-old drove on Tuesday in the post-season young-driver-test, setting the fifth fastest time in a day topped by Fernando Alonso.

“Like most racing drivers, it has always been my goal to race in Formula 1, so I am very happy with this news," said Tsunoda.

"I want to thank Scuderia AlphaTauri, Red Bull and Dr. Marko for giving me this opportunity, and of course everyone from Honda, for all their support so far in my career, giving me great opportunities to race in Europe.

"I must also thank the teams that I have raced with to get to this point, particularly Carlin, with whom I have learned so much this year. I realise that I will be carrying the hopes of a lot of Japanese F1 fans next year and I will be doing my best for them too.”

Outgoing Kvyat suggested across the season-ending weekend that the deal for him to be replaced by Tsunoda, who finished third in his rookie F2 campaign this year, was completed a "long time" ago despite official confirmation coming three days after the conclusion of the season.

Across the year, Tsunoda scored two feature race wins and one sprint race victory for the Carlin team.

AlphaTauri team principal Franz Tost said of Tsunoda: "Red Bull has been following Yuki’s career for a while now and I am sure he will be a great asset to our team.

"Watching him in Formula 2 this year, he has demonstrated the right mix of racing aggression and good technical understanding.

"During the test in Imola in November when he drove our 2018 car, his lap times were very consistent over a race simulation, he progressed throughout the day and gave our engineers useful feedback.

"In addition, his integration with the Honda engineers has been seamless, which certainly helps. At the test in Abu Dhabi this week, he proved to be a fast learner and that he is ready to make the step to Formula One.”