YukiTsunoda

In the entire history of Formula 1, no Japanese driver has ever won a World Championship Grand Prix. Could Yuki Tsunoda be the first? Red Bull certainly think so, with the youngster resolutely following the path to their senior team over the past few years.

Tsunoda's ascent to the top tier of motorsport was astonishingly rapid: he went from racing in Japanese F4 to a Formula 1 seat with AlphaTauri, now Racing Bulls, in just over three years, having arrived in Europe in 2019 with no knowledge of the circuits.

But after a slow start in F3, followed by a hugely impressive debut F2 campaign that saw him finish third in the championship and pick up three wins along the way, Tsunoda proved he had the speed and the race craft to force his way on to the F1 grid.

He may not have initially adapted to Grand Prix racing quite as quickly as he did to F2, but with four seasons now under his belt, Tsunoda has firmly established himself in Formula 1 - and finally won that seat with the Red Bull team early in 2025.