How did the promotion come about?
Yuki Tsunoda has been on a trajectory for F1 for less than two years, the Honda and Red Bull backed driver coming over to Europe to prove he had what it takes to compete at the highest level of motorsport after impressing in his native Japan.
Red Bull Motorsport Adviser Helmut Marko rated him highly and monitored his progress closely. When it became clear the Red Bull Junior programme was looking a little lean, he moved to accelerate some of the most talented youngsters’ programmes.
Tsunoda was one of them. He settled in with ease when they started embedding him in AlphaTauri, first for a test in a 2018-spec car after the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola.