Yuki Tsunoda insists he is “not afraid to make mistakes” in his debut Formula 1 season with AlphaTauri, believing it is “inevitable” for a rookie to make errors.
Honda junior Tsunoda will drive for the sister Red Bull team in 2021 after an impressive sole season in Formula 2, finishing third in the standings with three race wins.
The 20-year-old is the first driver born this century to race in F1 and will be the first Japanese driver on the grid since Kamui Kobayashi in 2014.
But despite his age, Tsunoda is adamant he feels no extra pressure as he focuses on getting up to speed as quickly as possible.
“No, not really. This will be my rookie season and I will be pushing hard right from the beginning to adapt to the car as much as possible,” Tsunoda said.
“However, I’m not afraid to make mistakes – I will of course try and limit them – but they are inevitable at the beginning. I am confident I can learn from my mistakes though, as I proved last year in Formula 2.
“As for the pressure, I put it on myself, so nothing changes in that regard for me – I want to push myself to succeed.”
Tsunoda admits he almost gave up racing when he came third during a Honda junior driver test with only the top two finishers offered a contract to race in Formula 4.
But former F1 driver Satoru Nakajima, who was in charge of the test, recommend Honda should give Tsunoda a seat, where he could go on to win the championship in 2018.
“When I was doing the Honda Junior Driver Test, I came third,” he said.
“Normally Honda takes the first two drivers to move to Formula 4. I had discussed the test with my father and had decided that if I did not get through, I would give up racing.
“But the person in charge was former F1 driver Satoru Nakajima. He was watching from the outside of the chicane and he recommended me to Honda and that’s why I got a Formula 4 drive with Honda. So, it was down to him.”
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