How Red Bull’s latest prospect carries the hopes of a nation
Yuki Tsunoda is the first driver born in the 2000s to reach F1 – and he’s barely tall enough for his feet to reach the pedals. But Red Bull and Honda have high hopes for their Japanese protege, says LUKE SMITH
Despite its well-documented passion for motor racing, Japan has produced a mere handful of Formula 1 drivers. Not since Kamui Kobayashi’s staccato comeback with Caterham in 2014 has a Japanese driver lined up on a grand prix grid – until now.
As a product of both Red Bull and Honda’s junior programmes, Yuki Tsunoda has experienced one of the fastest graduations to F1 since Max Verstappen, going from Japanese F4 to F1 in just three years. He is the first driver born this century to race in F1.
Why McLaren doesn’t doubt Ricciardo can escape his ‘dark’ place
Three points finishes from as many starts represents a decent opening innings on paper, but Daniel Ricciardo has endured a tough start to his McLaren career - only magnified his team-mate's excellent form. Yet both he and the team have good reason to expect a turnaround soon
What needs to “change” for Red Bull is ending Verstappen’s errors
OPINION: Going up against the dominant force of Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton was always going to demand the best from Red Bull and Max Verstappen. But after making a couple more errors during the Portuguese Grand Prix, the Dutch driver showed there's a small gap he still needs to close in the 2021 Formula 1 title fight
The "subtle" Red Bull upgrades that kept it in the Portugal F1 mix
Red Bull's Portuguese Grand Prix fortunes were decidedly second best to Mercedes', but the result skews the potential that the team had at Portimao. With a new set of updates, the team looks good going forward into the rest of 2021's spicy F1 competition
Portuguese Grand Prix Driver Ratings
The 2021 Portuguese GP will for several drivers go down as a weekend of missed opportunities amid imperfect track conditions that caused struggles with tyre warmup. But the performances of a select few stood out from the crowd
How Hamilton took a “completely different journey” to Portugal victory
Just as he did in 2020, Lewis Hamilton had to come from behind to win the 2021 Portuguese Grand Prix. Only this time there were two rivals he had to pass, among the several challenges he had to overcome, on his way to securing a 97th grand prix victory
The ‘big fish’ mentality that kept an Australian legend winning
Frank Gardner was the veteran of just eight grand prix starts. It could have been more, but why waste his talent if the cars weren't up to it? NIGEL ROEBUCK recalls the life of one of racing's great characters
Why Todt’s FIA successor could be cut from the same cloth
Jean Todt has signalled that he will not stand for re-election as FIA president. MARK GALLAGHER analyses the strong credentials of one potential successor…
The data that leaves both Red Bull and Mercedes uncertain of supremacy at Portimao
Lewis Hamilton topped the crucial FP2 session on Friday as F1 returned to Portugal, but his Mercedes team cannot be sure it has the edge on its Red Bull rivals. As cool temperatures and wind combine with the still-slippery surface to present drivers with quandaries over set-up and tyre warmup, there's still everything to play for come qualifying
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About this article
| Series | Formula 1 |
| Drivers | Yuki Tsunoda |
| Teams | AlphaTauri |
| Author | GP Racing |