F1 News
Tsunoda to AlphaTauri: "Confirmation of all the efforts Honda is making"
- GPblog.com
Yuki Tsunoda was officially presented on Tuesday as the new driver for AlphaTauri in 2021. It had been in the air for some time that the Japanese driver was going to replace Daniil Kvyat, but that is now really official.
The lineup of AlphaTauri is known
Since returning to Formula 1, Honda has also been busy training and preparing young Japanese talent for Formula 1. With the number three in Formula 2 and the best rookie in that class, Tsunoda is the man promoted and at AlphaTauri he ends up in a place where he can start proving himself right away next to Pierre Gasly.
"Like most racing drivers, it has always been my goal 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 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," says Tsunoda in the statement from Honda and AlphaTauri.
Tsunoda has made a big impression
''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'', Franz Tost explains the choice for the young Japanese driver.
''On behalf of everyone at Honda, I would like to congratulate Yuki on making the step to Formula 1. It is a dream come true for him and a confirmation of all the efforts Honda is making for its young drivers' programme. We are proud of what we have achieved together so far and look forward to following him in this next step to become the fastest driver in the world. We know it won't be easy to compete at the top of motorsport, but we believe in his abilities," concludes Takahiro Hachigo, CEO of Honda.