Official: Tsunoda replaces Kvyat at AlphaTauri
Supported by Honda, Yuki Tsunoda will indeed be a driver for AlphaTauri with Pierre Gasly next year. The Japanese driver is pushing Daniil Kvyat out.
His name had been circulating for a few weeks, it is now official, the young Japanese driver Yuki Tsunoda will indeed be an official AlphaTauri driver in 2021.
After an excellent first season in F2, finishing in 3rd place in the driver standings, the young Honda-backed driver was rewarded for his efforts. As a rookie with the Carlin team in Formula 2, his 3 victories and 7 podiums also made him the best rookie in the feeder series to F1. As a result, he receives the Anthoine Hubert trophy, the award for the best rookie.
With little experience in F1, he will surely be eager to quickly close the gap with his teammate (Pierre Gasly) in his future team. Aggressive on track, yet always measured, his qualities will be greatly appreciated in a midfield team seeking opportunities to achieve good results.
Yuki Tsunoda wanted to thank AlphaTauri, Red Bull, and Honda: Like most race drivers, my goal has always been to race in Formula 1; so I am very happy with this news. I want to thank Scuderia AlphaTauri, Red Bull, and Dr. Marko for giving me this opportunity, and of course everyone at Honda for all their support so far in my career, giving me great opportunities to race in Europe. I also have to thank the teams I’ve raced with so far, particularly Carlin, with whom I learned so much this year. I am aware that I will be carrying the hopes of many Japanese F1 fans on my shoulders next year and I will do my best for them as well.
His new boss Franz Tost also spoke about this official announcement: « Red Bull has been following Yuki’s career for a while, and I’m sure he will be a great asset to our team. This year, in Formula 2, we saw him demonstrate the right mix of on-track aggression and technical understanding. During the tests in Imola in November, where he drove our 2018 car, his lap times were very consistent during a race simulation, he improved throughout the day and provided our engineers with useful feedback. Moreover, his integration with the Honda engineers was seamless, which certainly helps. »
