1. Yuki Tsunoda won his first full championship at the JAF Japan F4 East Series in 2017, winning the F4 Japanese Championship the next season.
103 Facts About Yuki Tsunoda
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Yuki Tsunoda debuted in Formula One for AlphaTauri in 2021, using a Honda powertrain alongside Pierre Gasly; he finished a career-best fourth at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix that year.
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Yuki Tsunoda retained his seat at AlphaTauri in 2022 and 2023, partnering Nyck de Vries and Daniel Ricciardo in the latter.
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Yuki Tsunoda remained at the team for the 2024 season as they re-branded to Racing Bulls, before his promotion to senior team Red Bull for the Japanese Grand Prix onwards in 2025.
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Yuki Tsunoda was born on May 11,2000, in Sagamihara, Kanagawa.
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Yuki Tsunoda attended LCA International Elementary School and Nihon University Third High School before transferring to Wako High School in April 2017.
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Yuki Tsunoda started his studies at the Faculty of Sport Management of Nippon Sport Science University in April 2019 but later took a leave of absence and eventually withdrew to concentrate on his racing career.
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Yuki 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.
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In 2016, Yuki Tsunoda graduated from Honda's Suzuka Circuit Racing School in the advanced formula class and became a member of the Honda Formula Dream Project.
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Yuki Tsunoda claimed his first podium with 2nd in the first race and finished 4th in the second race.
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In 2017, Yuki Tsunoda started his first full season of single-seater racing in the F4 Japanese Championship while contesting in the regional East series of the JAF F4 Japanese Championship.
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Yuki Tsunoda won the title of the regional championship while finishing third in the national Formula 4 championship.
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Yuki Tsunoda continued to race in Japanese F4 in 2018 with the Honda Formula Dream Project team.
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Yuki Tsunoda amassed seven wins and claimed the title during the final race at Motegi, beating rival Teppei Natori by 14 points.
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Yuki Tsunoda scored tenth place and his first point during the first race in Barcelona, and ninth in Race 2.
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Yuki Tsunoda failed to score points in Austria, but came back during Race 2 in Silverstone with seventh.
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Yuki Tsunoda scored points in Budapest, with ninth and sixth place.
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Monza was fruitful for Yuki Tsunoda, finishing fourth on the road but was promoted to the podium following a penalty for Marcus Armstrong.
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Yuki Tsunoda 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.
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Yuki Tsunoda competed for Motopark in the Euroformula Open Championship, following the cancellation of Formula European Masters.
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In Spa-Francorchamps, Yuki Tsunoda was involved in a collision with teammate Liam Lawson during the second race, having scored second place in Race 1.
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Yuki Tsunoda took a double podium during the Monza final round.
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Yuki Tsunoda scored one win throughout the campaign, during the second race at the opening round in Highlands Motorsport Park.
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Yuki Tsunoda claimed two further podium finishes later in the season, landing him fourth place in the championship.
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Yuki Tsunoda topped free practice on his debut, but only qualified 12th.
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Yuki Tsunoda's races were disappointing, colliding with Daruvala on the opening lap of the feature race saw him finish last, but recovered to 11th on Sunday.
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Post-race, Yuki Tsunoda stated that "he had the potential for P1 even without late Prema crash".
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Yuki Tsunoda took his second pole of the year in Spa-Francorchamps.
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Yuki Tsunoda would be promoted to the win having finished second on the road.
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In Sochi, Yuki Tsunoda claimed his third pole ahead of teammate Daruvala.
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Yuki Tsunoda 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.
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Yuki Tsunoda sat third in the standings heading into the two-month break before the final two rounds, 44 points behind leader Schumacher.
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In Bahrain, Yuki Tsunoda spun out on his flying lap, which left him down in last.
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Yuki Tsunoda made an incredible charge on the alternate strategy, charging to sixth.
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Yuki Tsunoda had another feature race battle with Mazepin, but the Japanese driver would win out and take another victory.
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Yuki Tsunoda was the best-placed rookie and scored more points than any other driver across the feature races.
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Yuki Tsunoda completed further test sessions in the STR14 at Imola Circuit and Misano World Circuit over the winter break.
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Yuki Tsunoda replaced Daniil Kvyat and partnered Pierre Gasly at the Honda-powered AlphaTauri team for the 2021 season.
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Yuki Tsunoda finished in ninth place, having overtaken Lance Stroll on the last lap.
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Yuki Tsunoda targeted an appearance in the third qualifying session for the next race, the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, but crashed in qualifying and started the race from the back.
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Yuki Tsunoda made his way to ninth place before the race was red-flagged, but spun after the restart and finished 13th.
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Yuki Tsunoda went on to retire from the race with an electrical failure, his first F1 retirement.
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Yuki Tsunoda 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.
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Yuki Tsunoda crashed again in qualifying at the French Grand Prix, was forced to start from the pit lane and finished 13th.
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Yuki Tsunoda reached Q3 again at the Styrian Grand Prix, qualifying eighth, but received a three-place grid penalty for impeding Valtteri Bottas.
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Yuki Tsunoda again reached Q3 at the Austrian Grand Prix and achieved his best qualifying result thus far with seventh.
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Yuki Tsunoda opted for a two-stop strategy and received penalties for crossing the pit entry line, failing to score points with a 12th-place finish.
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Yuki Tsunoda secured a point with 10th place at the British Grand Prix, having started 16th and benefited from a late pit stop from Sergio Perez.
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Yuki Tsunoda started 10th at the United States Grand Prix, passed teammate Gasly and finished ninth, his first points since the summer break.
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Yuki Tsunoda caused controversy for potentially impeding the Red Bull drivers, but was not penalised.
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Yuki Tsunoda apologised for his role in a collision with Sebastian Vettel at the latter.
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From this position, Yuki Tsunoda finished fourth and gained 12 points, his best ever result.
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Yuki Tsunoda placed 14th in the drivers' championship with 32 points to Gasly's 110.
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Yuki Tsunoda made up places in the race and passed Sebastian Vettel late on for seventh place.
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Yuki Tsunoda described the race as the best of his Formula One career.
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Yuki Tsunoda scored points for the third time in six races at the Spanish Grand Prix, finishing tenth, having started in 13th.
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Yuki Tsunoda hit the wall in qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix, but manage to get into Q2 and qualify 11th.
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Yuki Tsunoda 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.
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Yuki Tsunoda 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.
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Yuki Tsunoda finished 13th, later apologised as he ended in 14th place.
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At the Belgian Grand Prix, Yuki Tsunoda started from the pit lane but managed to charge to 13th place.
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At the Dutch Grand Prix, Yuki Tsunoda started ninth, but retired with a differential issue.
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Yuki Tsunoda 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.
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At his first home race during the Japanese Grand Prix, Yuki Tsunoda finished the race in 13th place, ahead of teammate Gasly.
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Yuki Tsunoda scored a point at the United States Grand Prix where he started 19th, gained five places on the first lap and finished 10th.
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Yuki Tsunoda was running 11th at the Mexico City Grand Prix but was eliminated in a collision with Daniel Ricciardo.
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At the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, an unusual glitch in the safety car system meant that Yuki Tsunoda drove to 17th place, the only driver who was lapped during the race.
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At the final race in Abu Dhabi, Yuki Tsunoda missed out on points with 11th place.
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Yuki Tsunoda ended the season 17th in the drivers' championship with 12 points to Gasly's 23.
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Yuki Tsunoda remained with AlphaTauri for the 2023 season, partnering rookie Nyck de Vries as Gasly left for Alpine.
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Yuki 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.
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At the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, a safety car allowed Yuki Tsunoda to make his pit stop and jump up to eighth place.
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Yuki Tsunoda 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.
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Yuki Tsunoda reached Q3 for the first time in 2023 at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
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Yuki Tsunoda finished tenth in the race to score another point.
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At the Miami Grand Prix Yuki Tsunoda again finished 11th, closely behind Kevin Magnussen, after starting 17th.
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Yuki Tsunoda finished ninth at the Spanish Grand Prix but received a penalty for forcing Zhou Guanyu off the track, dropping him outside the points.
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Yuki Tsunoda later described the penalty as "ridiculous" and accused Zhou of pretending to be forced off.
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Yuki Tsunoda finished the race 15th, two places behind Ricciardo.
80.
Yuki Tsunoda was joined at AlphaTauri by Liam Lawson from the Dutch Grand Prix onwards after Ricciardo broke his hand.
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Yuki Tsunoda ended the race behind Lawson in 15th place, having run well in the top 10 during the early stages in a dry-wet race.
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Yuki Tsunoda was then eliminated on lap one of the Singapore Grand Prix with damage from a collision with Sergio Perez.
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Yuki 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.
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At the United States Grand Prix, Yuki Tsunoda benefitted a position to tenth place after Fernando Alonso retired, and then pitted late on to set his first fastest lap.
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Yuki Tsunoda started from the back at the Mexico City Grand Prix after taking additional power unit elements.
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Yuki Tsunoda finished the 2023 season 14th in the standings, with 17 points.
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At the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, starting 11th, Yuki Tsunoda was battling Kevin Magnussen for 12th but was ordered to allow teammate Ricciardo through, in which he expressed his frustration.
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Yuki Tsunoda crossed the line in 14th, and later divebombed Ricciardo on the cooldown lap to vent further irritation.
89.
At the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Yuki Tsunoda achieved his first Q3 of the year qualifying ninth, but he would slip back on race day, being embroiled in a battle with Magnussen to eventually finish 15th.
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Yuki Tsunoda made it to Q3 again for his home Japanese Grand Prix.
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An unlucky Chinese Grand Prix followed, as Yuki Tsunoda was tipped into a spin by Magnussen following a safety car restart, which caused the former to retire.
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Yuki Tsunoda followed it up with another seventh place in the main race, even finishing in front of Mercedes' George Russell.
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Yuki Tsunoda continued his strong qualifying performances with eighth in Canada.
94.
Struggles followed where Yuki Tsunoda failed to score points at the Spanish and Austrian Grand Prixs, despite RB introducing upgrades.
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Yuki Tsunoda was hit with an engine penalty that confined him to the back of the grid at the Belgian Grand Prix, and struggled with pace to only finish 16th.
96.
Yuki Tsunoda got his best qualifying position to date at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, securing third in a rain-hit session.
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Yuki Tsunoda eventually finished in seventh place, benefitting a position from Oscar Piastri's penalty.
98.
The week before the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Yuki Tsunoda was interrogated by US Customs and Border Protection officers at Harry Reid International Airport for several hours whilst attempting to enter the country.
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At the Qatar Grand Prix, Yuki Tsunoda finished 16th in the sprint and 13th in the Grand Prix, on a weekend where RB lacked pace.
100.
Yuki Tsunoda finished the season 12th in the drivers' championship with 30 points, his highest ever placing in Formula 1 to date.
101.
Yuki Tsunoda extended his contract with Racing Bulls for his 2025 campaign, partnering FIA Formula 2 runner-up Isack Hadjar.
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Yuki Tsunoda had qualified fifth and ninth, respectively, before being denied points finishes due to strategic errors at both, as well as spontaneous front wing damage in China.
103.
Yuki Tsunoda replaced Liam Lawson at Red Bull in a swap deal from the Japanese Grand Prix onwards, partnering defending four-time World Drivers' Champion Max Verstappen for the remainder of the 2025 season.