Yuki Tsunoda rounded out his debut F1 season with a fourth place finish at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Here’s Tsunoda’s 2021 Formula 1 season in statistics!
RACE STATS
| Championship Position: | 14th |
| Total Points: | 32 |
| % of teams’ points scored: | 23% |
| Points Scoring Grands Prix: | 7 |
| Best finish: | 4th (Abu Dhabi) |
| Number of starts: | 21 |
| Number of non-finishes: | 4 |
| Number of finishes: | 18 |
| Laps Led: | 0 |
| Laps Complete: | 1078 |
| % of Laps Complete: | 83.11% |
| Distance Covered: | 5361.989km |
| Laps Raced in the Top 10: | 388 |
| Laps Raced in the Top 5: | 32 |
| Laps Raced in the Top 3: | 1 |
| Races gained positions in: | 9 |
| Races lost positions in: | 7 |
| Finished where started: | 2 |
QUALIFYING STATS
| Q3 Appearances: | 9 |
| Q2 Exits: | 5 |
| Q1 Exits: | 8 |
| Best Qualifying Position: | 7th (Austria) |
| Worst Qualifying Position: | 20th (Imola, France) |
| Average Qualifying Position: | 12.86 |
| Average Grid Position: | 13.09 |
| Beat team-mate in how many qualifying sectors: | 6 |
| Beaten by team-mate in how many qualifying sectors: | 57 |
| Average gap to team-mate per sector in qualifying: | +0.480s |
A STATISTIC FROM EVERY GRAND PRIX
2021 BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX
Finishing in ninth place, Yuki Tsunoda became the first driver to score points on debut since Stoffel Vandoorne did so at the 2016 Bahrain Grand Prix. His was the best finish for a debutant since Felipe Nasr finished fifth in the 2015 Australian Grand Prix. Before Tsunoda, Carlos Sainz was the most recent driver to score on debut with the Red Bull junior team, while Kamui Kobayashi was the last Japanese driver to score in F1 at the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix. Tsunoda became the first Japanese driver to score on their Formula 1 debut – but his ninth place was not the best result for a Japanese debutant. Satoru Nakajima finished seventh at the 1987 Brazilian Grand Prix, as did Shinji Nakano at the 1997 Australian Grand Prix, but that was before the position gave any points.
2021 EMILIA ROMAGNA GRAND PRIX
After crashing out in Q1 and starting from the back of the grid, Yuki Tsunoda finished the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in twelfth place. It was the first time a Japanese driver has finished a Formula 1 race in twelfth place since Kamui Kobayashi finished twelfth at the 2011 Belgian Grand Prix.
2021 PORTUGUESE GRAND PRIX
After starting from fourteenth on the grid, Yuki Tsunoda finished fifteenth in the Portuguese Grand Prix. It’s the first time in his Formula 1 career that Tsunoda has finished a race in a worse position than where he started.
2021 SPANISH GRAND PRIX
Yuki Tsunoda recorded the first retirement of his Formula 1 career at the Spanish Grand Prix. This was only the second retirement for the Red Bull junior team at the Spanish Grand Prix in the last seven seasons. Tsunoda is their first retirement at the Catalunya circuit since Pierre Gasly in 2018. Tsunoda’s retirement marks the third time in the last four seasons that the driver who has started sixteenth at the Spanish Grand Prix has retired.
2021 MONACO GRAND PRIX
Yuki Tsunoda finished in sixteenth place at the Monaco Grand Prix. It was the lowest position in which he’s finished a race, not counting his non-finish at the Spanish Grand Prix. Not counting DNFs, this was also the worst result for the Red Bull junior team at Monaco.
2021 AZERBAIJAN GRAND PRIX
After reaching Q3 for the first time in his career, Yuki Tsunoda recorded the best result of his Formula 1 career to date with seventh place. It was the best result for a Japanese driver in F1 since Kamui Kobayashi finished sixth at the 2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
2021 FRENCH GRAND PRIX
After crashing out in qualifying, Yuki Tsunoda started the French Grand Prix from the pit lane. He became the first driver to start an F1 race at Circuit Paul Ricard from the pit lane.
2021 STYRIAN GRAND PRIX
With eighth place, Yuki Tsunoda equalled the best qualifying result of his career to date. He also qualified eighth at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. He started eleventh, however, after a three-place grid penalty for impeding Valtteri Bottas. He went on to finish the race in tenth place, scoring for the third time in his career.
2021 AUSTRIAN GRAND PRIX
With Pierre Gasly ninth and Yuki Tsunoda twelfth, this was the first race at the Red Bull Ring in which both of the Red Bull junior team’s drivers finished in the top twelve.
2021 BRITISH GRAND PRIX
Yuki Tsunoda was eliminated in Q1 at the British Grand Prix, recording the Red Bull junior team’s 150th Q1 exit. Despite his low qualifying position, Tsunoda scored for the third time in his career, coming home in tenth place.
2021 HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX
Yuki Tsunoda finished the Hungarian Grand Prix in seventh place, equalling the best result of his Formula 1 career to date. That became sixth following Vettel’s disqualification. Sixth is the best result for a Japanese driver since Kamui Kobayashi’s sixth place at the 2012 Hungarian Grand Prix.
2021 BELGIAN GRAND PRIX
Along with Kimi Raikkonen, Yuki Tsunoda recorded his seventh Q1 exit of the 2021 season at the Belgian Grand Prix. Only the two Haas drivers and Nicholas Latifi have been eliminated in Q1 on more occasions so far this year.
2021 DUTCH GRAND PRIX
Qualifying in fifteenth for the Dutch Grand Prix, Yuki Tsunoda recorded the Red Bull junior team’s 300th Q2 elimination. Tsunoda went on to record the second retirement of his Formula 1 career due to a loss of power.
2021 ITALIAN GRAND PRIX
Yuki Tsunoda failed to start the 2021 Italian Grand Prix. Tsunoda’s DNS was the first to be recorded at the Italian Grand Prix since Piercarlo Ghinzani failed to start with Toleman in 1985. This was the first time that Tsunoda has failed to reach the chequered flag at consecutive races.
2021 RUSSIAN GRAND PRIX
Yuki Tsunoda reached the end of a race for the first time since the rain-shortened Belgian Grand Prix. He finished only seventeenth – his worst result other than retirements and non starts.
2021 TURKISH GRAND PRIX
Though he failed to score points in Turkey, Yuki Tsunoda reached Q3 for the first time since the Austrian Grand Prix.
2021 UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX
With ninth place, Yuki Tsunoda scored for the sixth time in his F1 career. It’s the first time he has scored since the Hungarian Grand Prix.
2021 MEXICO CITY GRAND PRIX
Retiring on the first lap, Yuki Tsunoda failed to cross the finish line for the fourth time in his career. He recorded the Red Bull junior team’s second retirement at the Mexican Grand Prix – their first since Brendon Hartley’s retirement in 2017.
2021 SAO PAULO GRAND PRIX
Yuki Tsunoda finished fifteenth for the third time in his F1 career. Fifteenth became his most common result.
2021 QATAR GRAND PRIX
With both Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda making it out of Q1, this was the first time that neither of the Red Bull junior team’s cars have been eliminated in Q1 at six consecutive races since the six races between the 2017 Monaco and Hungarian Grands Prix. Both Tsunoda and his team-mate finished outside of the points, making this the first time that AlphaTauri have not scored since the Russian Grand Prix.
2021 SAUDI ARABIAN GRAND PRIX
For the second race in a row, Yuki Tsunoda finished to score points having started inside the top eight on the grid. Of his six top ten starts this year, Tsunoda has converted two into points finishes (in Baku and Texas).
2021 ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX
For the first time in his F1 career, Yuki Tsunoda out-qualified his team-mate. This was the third race in a row at which Tsunoda has qualified in eighth place. In the race, Tsunoda recorded the best result of his career to date with fourth place. It equalled the second-best result for a Japanese driver in Formula 1. It was the best result for a Japanese driver since Kamui Kobayashi’s third place finish at the 2012 Japanese Grand Prix.