Can Yuki Tsunoda be the first Japanese to win in F1?
The Asian will have the opportunity to make history for his country, now as Red Bull pilot
After several seasons of asking for a chance in Red Bullthe Japanese pilot Yuki Tsunoda Finally you can go up to the company’s first team to demonstrate that it is the ideal complement of the champion Max Verstappenafter the experiment with Liam Lawson failed.
In addition, for a greater joy, the Japanese will premiere with its new squad precisely in the Grand prize home, in the circuit of Suzukafor what will have the public in their favor to promote it in its intention to achieve a historical performance, when the calendar is barely initiated.
Never a country’s driver has won a career Formula 1although their compatriots register three podiums in the serial and Tsunoda He has a great occasion to get another throughout the campaign and go further, with a car that in recent times has had victories with Max and the Mexican Sergio Pérez.
To do it at home, Yuki could repeat the feat of Verstappen in his debut with Red Bullwhen it was promoted for the fifth date of 2016 since Toro Rosso And he did not need adaptation time, because he stayed with the triumph in Spain by taking advantage of a clash between the mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.
Japanese Background of the F1 before Yuki
The first Japanese flyers to run in F1 arrived just with the birth of the event in that territory, in 1976, this time three places started: Masahiro HASEMI, Kazuyoshi Hoshino and Noritake TakaharOh the best located was the last one, who closed in the ninth position.
For 1977 they repeated Hoshino and Takahara and joined Kunimitsu Takahashi, who ended up as ninth, although they were specific cases, which did not participate in the rest of the appointments.
The first full time in the highest category was Satoru Nakajimawho ran between 1987 and 1991, three years as part of Lotus and the last two in Tyrrell; He was the one who got the first points for a competitor of his nation, when he was sixth in San Marino in his debut campaign.
Nakajima achieved units in each of its seasons, although its best location was fourth, twice, while in the championship it managed to be 12 as a rookie, to be the first with constant performances in the Great Circus.
His steps followed them Aguri Suzukiwith whom he agreed on the grill, but that reached a new milestone for those born in that region when he achieved a podium, at the end third in Suzuka in 1990, behind Brazilians Nelson Piquet and Roberto Morenowith a Lola model with Lamborghini engine.
Another of his compatriots with a good trajectory in Formula 1 was UKEO KATAYAMA, who competed from 1992 to 1997 and still has the record among Japanese pilots in terms of large awards disputed, with 95, although Tsunoda could overcome it within six events if everything goes according to their plans.
After some attempts, the next podium for that country came in 2004, through Takuma Satowho ended third in the United States at the head of a Honda bar, behind the Ferrari of Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello; The Asian was in the 2002 to 2008 category.
The last time in which the flag of Japan was on a podium was in Suzuka 2012, when kAmui Kobayashi He succeeded on board a Sauber, next to the winner Sebastian Vettelof Red Bull And to the second, Felipe Massaof Ferrari; In that institution it coincided with the Mexican Sergio Pérez.
Yuki’s path
All of them preceded Tsunoda, who since the age of 16 has had the support of the Honda company, in 2018 he was a monarch of Formula 4 Japanese and made the leap to F3, where he was ninth, to move on to F2 and be third in 2020.
After Honda returned to F1 as a motor provider for Red Bull teams, Tsunoda got a seat in ALPHATAUR By 2021, as a replacement for the Russian Daniil Kvyat, to form a pair with the Frenchman Pierre Gaslywho exceeded it in the table in the two seasons they shared, although they gave stability to the squad.
Just in his serial debut, Tsunoda was Top-10, as a ninth in Bahrain and at the close of 2021 in Abu Dhabi he stayed at the doors of the podium, when he was a quarter behind Verstappen, Hamilton (Mercedes) and Carlos Sainz (Ferrari), so that the team was sixth in the championship.
By 2023, with Gasly in Alpine, Yuki became the first garage flyer after a series of circumstances: the Dutch newbie VRies Nyck There was hardly 10 dates, the European was replaced by Australian Daniel Ricciardo, who suffered a fracture in his hand, so he was temporarily replaced by Neozyre Liam Lawson.
Although the ‘Honey Badger’ returned to the end of the campaign, the Asian contributed the greatest number of points for the organization, with 17 of 25, for the six of the Australian and the two of the Neozyleand, whom he now relieves in Red Bull. In 2024, Daniel remained with Tsunoda, but after 18 appointments the difference of so many was from 22 to 12 in favor of the Japanese, so that of Oceania lost his position at the hands of Lawson, who was ninth on a couple of occasions, although his partner got his best location in the classification, being 12. With the announcement of Sergio Pérez’s departure from the company’s first team, a place was opened with Verstappen and although Tsunoda exceeded the numbers of any internal applicant, the imminent final of the relationship between Honda and the Austrian brand at the end of this calendar, limited its options.
In the end, Red Bull decided on Lawson, “when they announced it I did not feel angry or disappointed, maybe in my head I was prepared, but in the end if I am in RB, VCarb or Red Bull, what I have to do is the same, I must follow, I understand why they chose Liam, they are things that I cannot control,” said Yuki in the presentation of the F1 season in London.
However, after just two dates, the Austrian company chose to make the change, the New Zealand will return to the second squad and Tsunoda can get on Red Bull, without greater guarantee for the future, but with the opportunity to prove its worth during the following weeks not only to the company, but to the rest of the grill.
Now he can even dream of his first podium and even with a triumph, although the car is no longer the dominant 2022 or 2023, Verstappen could still win in two of the last four races of 2024 (nine in total) and at this start of the campaign he was already second in Australia.
The key to Tsunoda will be the immediate adaptation to be able to extract the maximum performance of the machine, the challenge will be to overcome Lawson’s performances (abandonment and 12) but from there it can aspire to be first in the right context, despite a McLaren in Punta, but with a couple fight of those of energy drinks with Ferrari and Mercedes.
The dream would be to achieve this same weekend in Suzuka before its people, in the debut that I expected so much, but if that does not happen it will have time to add feats, as long as it does not end quickly with the patience of those who make the decisions in the office of Milton Keynes.
