Yuki Tsunoda

Yuki Tsunoda

Yuki Tsunoda is a Japanese Formula 1 driver racing with the RB F1 Team, carrying the number 22 and backed through his rise by Honda and the Red Bull system. Now in his sixth season, he sits P20 with 1 point in the 2026 standings so far.

Honda-backed rise

Tsunoda’s pathway was shaped early by Honda support, progressing through domestic single-seaters to win the Japanese Formula 4 Championship in 2018. He then moved to Europe on the joint Red Bull and Honda ladder, gaining experience in FIA Formula 3 in 2019 before stepping up to Formula 2 with Carlin in 2020. That F2 season proved decisive: multiple race wins, third in the final standings and the series’ top rookie award. It earned him a swift promotion to Formula 1 for 2021 with AlphaTauri, Red Bull’s Faenza-based team.

Arrival and hard lessons

Tsunoda scored points on debut in Bahrain in 2021 and closed his rookie campaign with a career-best fourth place at Abu Dhabi. He finished P14 with 32 points and no wins. The following year was more difficult. AlphaTauri’s form dipped under the new technical rules and Tsunoda slipped to P17 with 12 points in 2022, with a car rarely in contention for the top eight.

Building consistency

The upward curve returned in 2023 as Tsunoda shouldered more of the load for a team that again lacked a regular top-10 car. He finished P14 with 17 points. In 2024, with the Faenza operation running under the RB name, Tsunoda advanced to P12 in the championship with 30 points, a steady tally built on repeated Q3 appearances and disciplined race management. He still had no podiums or wins, but his form across those two seasons underlined improved consistency.

RB mainstay in a shifting midfield

Tsunoda remained with the outfit into 2025 as the grid around him reshuffled. The raw numbers tell a curious story: 33 points but only P17 overall, reflecting a tightly bunched midfield.

The 2026 season, still in progress, has been a tougher proposition. RB have struggled for outright pace and Tsunoda sits P20 with 1 point to date. It is his sixth straight season with the Faenza squad—known variously as AlphaTauri and now RB—making him a rare constant through the organisation’s rebrands. His best Formula 1 result remains that fourth place at the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, and across his career to this point he has yet to win a race.

Key statistics frame his career succinctly. Championship finishes to date read P14 (32 points) in 2021, P17 (12) in 2022, P14 (17) in 2023, P12 (30) in 2024, P17 (33) in 2025 and P20 with 1 point so far in 2026, all without a win. He races under number 22.

Yuki Tsunoda is 26 jaar oud, werd geboren in en debuteerde in 2021 in Formula 1. De Japanse coureur rijdt voor RB F1 Team met startnummer 22.