20-year-old Tsunoda: 'I should have taken racing more seriously earlier'

In recent years, Formula One drivers have been getting younger and younger as they embark on their adventure in the premier class of motorsport. Max Verstappen was exceptional at 17, but a few more teenagers have made their debuts after him. Something that would have been unthinkable some 15 years ago. Yuki Tsunoda is almost 'old' at 20 years old.

Those who debut in Formula One at 20 can hardly say they have wasted much time in their lives, but Tsunoda does so anyway in an interview for AlphaTauri. "Start putting all your energy into racing earlier than I did, without being distracted by other things," is his advice for his younger self.

Nakajima saved Tsunoda's career

"Until I was 16, I was not that excited about racing. I don't mean I didn't like it, but I didn't put as much effort into it as I should have done," says the Japanese, who also cites a test for Honda from that period as the worst moment of his career so far. He finished only third in that 2016 test, where Honda normally only invites the first two to a season in Japanese Formula 4. However, there was a saving grace along the track.

"I had discussed the test with my father and decided that I would stop racing if I didn't get through. 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", Tsunoda recognised that this was an unprecedented opportunity and started taking his career more seriously from then on.