Formula One fans, you will see Yuki Tsunoda on the grid next season as AlphaTauri announced Thursday the Japanese driver will remain with the team for the 2023 campaign.
Tsunoda is in his second season with the Italy-based team, and his future in the sport came into question in recent months. The 22-year-old said in the announcement that he is “fully focused on finishing [the 2022 season] on a high and then we will look forward to next year.”
“I want to say a huge thank you to Red Bull, Honda and Scuderia AlphaTauri for continuing to give me the opportunity to drive in F1,” Tsunoda said in the release. “Having moved to Italy last year, to be closer to the factory, I really feel part of the team and am glad that I get to carry on racing with them in 2023.”
The move comes amid a chaotic silly season that kicked off at the beginning of summer break with Fernando Alonso heading to Aston Martin and Alpine claiming Oscar Piastri would drive for them in 2023 only for the 21-year-old to deny this. On Aug. 24, news broke that McLaren and Daniel Ricciardo “mutually agreed” to split at the end of the 2022 campaign and the Contract Recognition Board later upheld McLaren’s contract with Piastri.
AlphaTauri does currently have two drivers under contract for 2023 with Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly. There had been speculation that the Frenchman would “consider all options” for his future following Sergio Perez’s contract extension with Red Bull. However, in late June, the Frenchman confirmed he’d stay with AlphaTauri for ’23. This left the question about who would be his teammate with Tsunoda’s deal up at the end of ’22.
The twist is Alpine has shown interest in the Frenchman.
Through 16 races, the Japanese driver started all but one and did not finish three races, two due to crashes and one because of a differential. Of the other 12 races, Tsunoda only finished in the top 10 three times—Bahrain, Imola and Spain. He currently has 11 points.
“As we’ve seen since he joined us last year, Yuki is a very talented driver and has improved a lot this season,” team principal Franz Tost said in a statement. “The pace he has shown recently is clear evidence of a steep learning curve, which proves he deserves a seat in F1, and I still expect some strong results from him in the last six races of 2022. As I always say, a driver needs at least three years to fully get to grips with Formula 1, so I’m pleased he’s been given the time to show his full potential.”
