Inspired by the Masters victory, it is Tsunoda’s turn for Japan’s F1 milestone

Shortly after Hideki Matsuyama pocketed his final putt at Augusta National and became the first Japanese golfer to win the Masters tournament, Yuki Tsunoda’s phone began buzzing.

The fans in Tsunoda’s native Japan have given the AlphaTauri Formula 1 driver a clear message. Now it’s your turn.

With Tokyo hosting this year’s Olympic Games – if COVID allows it – 2021 was already a big year for the sport in Japan, long before Matsuyama got his hands on the famous green jacket from Golf.

Two weeks earlier, Tsunoda had ushered in another milestone for the country as the first Japanese driver to drive in Formula 1 since Kamui Kobayashi in 2014.

After a remarkably quick climb up the motorsport ladder, Tsunoda, who was born 21 years ago in May just 50 km from Japan’s capital Sagamihara, made his debut at the season opening Grand Prix of Bahrain last month. Tsunoda took an excellent ninth place and became the eighth Japanese scorer in F1 history.

Of the 17 drivers who took part in an F1 race before Tsunoda, Kobayashi was the most successful, scoring 27 points in his 75 starts. The most memorable result was third place in Suzuka at the 2012 Japanese Grand Prix. There have been several very fast and popular drivers from Japan over the years, but none have ever made it to the top step of the podium.

On the subject of matching items

Tsunoda spoke last Thursday before the second round in Imola in an exclusive interview with Crash.net about his personal ambition to write his own piece of sports history in F1.

“I don’t think too much about becoming a world champion or winning a race right now,” said F1’s first driver, born in the 2000s.

“I really just focus on each session after session. That makes me mentally better if I focus on driving in the session.

“If I get a win this season, the first win for a Japanese driver, that would be really good. It would be really great for me. Most Japanese motorsport fans are waiting for that.

On the subject of matching items

“I received a lot of messages after the Masters when [we had] the first Japanese golf winner in history. Especially after that, I got a lot of messages from Japanese fans saying, “Your turn next”.

“It would be great if I could take this win, but now I think about every race and just focus on my driving to improve.”

SEE ALSO: Why Tsunoda only rated his F1 debut a “5 out of 10” and where he can improve

Three weeks after the highs of his brilliant debut in Bahrain, Tsunoda was brought back to earth with a bang in Imola, which turned out to be a difficult weekend for the youngster.

The hopes for a first appearance in the third quarter at a venue were high. Tsunoda had passed several tests over the winter to prepare for his rookie F1 campaign.

Tsunoda made a strong recovery in an action-packed race held in mixed conditions to work his way into the top 10. But shortly after he boldly overtook seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes to secure the P8, he paid the price too greedily on the gas and turned around at the first chicane. He would take 13th place.

Making mistakes is part of the game in F1, especially given the steep learning curve Tsunoda faces after just two full seasons of single-seater racing in Europe, including a single campaign in Formula 2 where he finished as the best third in overall ranked rookie with three wins.

The 20-year-old made it clear before the start of the season that he is not afraid of making mistakes in his first year in F1, knowing that he has the full support of his AlphaTauri team to develop and grow as a driver .

Tsunoda has so far kept his vows to make himself strong from the start, to make an early impression and to repay the trust the Italian squad has shown in him, even if it comes at a cost.

The trust AlphaTauri places in Tsunoda enables him to ride with a sense of freedom that he hopes will help him reach a higher level of performance and ultimately reach his full potential.

“I can say something like that because the team is very supportive,” said Tsunoda.

“Even Franz [Tost, AlphaTauri team principal] said to me: do what you want when you drive and try to experience a lot. Even if you have bugs it doesn’t matter, just try to improve from there. ‘

“For me it helps a lot on my mental side. I now feel like I can do anything I want when I drive and that gives me freedom.

“It’s a great way to get closer to any session even if I make mistakes. I do not regret these mistakes. I will simply continue this experience and use it in the future. ”

Tsunoda is a calm, polite, and fun person. As soon as the visor falls, however, he is a fiery competitor – demonstrated by several explosive radio rants on his first two Grand Prix weekends.

**** This guy can swear well @ yukitsunoda07 pic.twitter.com/j30a64mePG

– Scuderia AlphaTauri (@ AlphaTauriF1) April 22, 2021

Such outbursts in the midst of a burning quest for success are understandable given the extreme pressure placed on the shoulders of F1 newbies no more than part of the Red Bull program.

After a flying start in F1 with Toro Rosso (AlphaTauri’s former guise) in 2019, Alex Albon was quickly accepted into the Red Bull team after just 12 Grand Prix starts. But a little more than 12 months after Albon had received a dream opportunity, he had lost his place on the starting line-up at the end of 2020 because he had not met expectations.

Albon’s rise and fall is just one example of the harsh reality of the often unforgiving world of F1.

Honda-backed Tsunoda is the latest talent brought on by Red Bull’s junior program and his arrival in F1 has caused a lot of excitement. He has replaced Daniil Kvyat – a former Red Bull graduate who lost just four races in the 2016 season – with partner Pierre Gasly, who is no stranger to feeling the wrath of the senior squad’s demotion.

Despite high expectations for the beginning of his F1 career, Tsunoda insists he doesn’t feel the pressure.

“Most people think I’m going to be under pressure and get nervous, but I don’t feel any of those things to me,” he said.

“I don’t have to think about it much because there is no room to feel the pressure. Before the first race I had no pressure or nervous feelings, I just enjoyed it as much as possible. “

Red Bull’s sometimes ruthless and gold standard approach to driver selection has helped create some of the greatest talent F1 has seen in this day and age.

During his long tenure as team boss at AlphaTauri, Franz Tost dealt with Red Bull’s best protégés. This includes a golden generation with four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel, seven-time Grand Prix winner Daniel Ricciardo and Red Bull’s newest star, Max Verstappen, who have all made progress through their sister team.

How does Tsunoda compare to the crème de la crème?

“You know that there are a lot of parallels to other drivers that we had in the Red Bull driver pool,” replied Tost to a question from Crash.net.

“First of all, they’re all talented, otherwise they wouldn’t be in the pool. Second, they are focused and they are oriented and disciplined just to perform well.

“What impresses me about Yuki is that he learns pretty quickly. He is very strong when braking. He has really good car control and already gives pretty good feedback on the car’s behavior and helps the engineers set up the car – and that’s not that common for someone straight out of Formula 2. “

Tsunoda was given a fantastic platform to show off his talent with a very fast car that already finished fifth in the first two races of the season.

AlphaTauri’s early season shape has led to suggestions that it could be the surprise package of 2021 with its updated AT02 car, which is a marked improvement over its race-winning predecessor, which Gasly shocked at last year’s Italian Grand Prix .

If Tsunoda can harness its electrifying speed and potential, Japan may not have to wait too long for its groundbreaking F1 win.