Tsunoda who is a member of the Red Bull Junior Team and Honda Formula Dream Project will join the championship winning team following a strong outing in the post-season tests in Abu Dhabi in December.
2019 was a busy season for Tsunoda, the 19-year-old claimed three podiums including a win in his debut season in the highly competitive FIA Formula 3 Championship. In addition, the Japanese racer claimed six podiums in EuroFormula Open which he dovetailed around his F3 campaign. The season was capped off by a strong outing in Carlin’s FIA F2 car at the post season tests in Abu Dhabi where the youngster impressed with his raw pace and talent.
Previous to racing in Europe, the Honda driver capped off two years in Japanese F4 with the championship win in 2018 following 11 podiums of which seven were race wins.
Speaking about his graduation to FIA Formula 2, the Red Bull Junior said, “Honestly I was thinking I might be in F3 for another year, so I’m very happy that people believe I’m capable of the step up. For sure it is going to be a tough year; new circuits, more power, bigger tyres, but then learning a lot during a race weekend is normal for me after 2019 and I’ve learnt so much as a driver.
“Thank you to Red Bull and Honda for supporting me next year; to support my dream to be a Formula 1 driver. I want to make some really good results for them to repay their trust and belief in me.”
On joining Carlin the F3 race winner said, “I’m happy to be joining Carlin. Carlin is a great team; a lot of the good drivers have been here in this team and been on this path so I know that I follow in good footsteps and I know I will have a good experience.”
In only his second season racing in Europe, Tsunoda will race at more new circuits in addition to those he learnt during his first year in FIA F3. “There are a few more new circuits to learn, particularly Monaco, which is going to be really cool for me. I just see from TV and YouTube how incredible it is, so to be racing there is going to be amazing and I’m looking forward to my first race around those famous streets.”
Speaking about his newest signing, Team Principal Trevor Carlin said, “We’re very excited to have Yuki join the team; we watched his performance in FIA F3 last year with great interest. His race performances were quite amazing especially considering it was his first year of international motorsport. We would like to thank Honda and Red Bull in trusting Yuki with us. We’re proud to continue our relationship with both and look forward to getting the season underway.”
The 12 round FIA F2 season kicks off in Bahrain from 20 – 22 March.
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