Dreams - Yuki Tsunoda | The Power of Dreams | About Honda

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The one and
only Japanese
Formula 1™ driver

Yuki Tsunoda

Started racing karts at the age of 4. In 2018, was selected as a trainee for Honda's driver development program, the Honda Formula Dream Project (HFDP), and competed in the FIA-F4 Championship. After progressing through the FIA-F3 and FIA-F2 Championships, has been competing in the FIA-F1 Championship with Scuderia Alpha Tauri since 2021.

Hi Yuki, what is your dream?

My dream is to be a Formula 1™ world champion. For sure, my main dream at some point, like kind of big dream obviously, want to break all the records that all the great drivers set, and open a restaurant at some point, that would be great.

What is the driving force behind your dream?

I think (it’s) quite simple, I would say. Pursue means driving fast. Driving fast is my kind of the thing I can enjoy most. And obviously, lots of things, lots of situations happened sometimes, like when other drivers drive faster than me, you know. it makes me frustration, but at the same time, when I am above them you know, or being best, for better of the greats, you know, I just be happy and kind of my happiness, yeah.

Did you confront any difficulties on the way to achieving your dream?

Yes, I have confronted difficulties thus far and have struggled with them. One particularly memorable incident took place in 2016, I believe. The final test conducted by Honda was the most important one for all trainees. However, I thought that it would be easy, and I approached it with a rather lazy attitude. Up to then, I had performed excellently; however, as a result, I became complacent and I did not achieve a good outcome in the 2016 incident, and I ended up in the third place. I thought that I would not have been able to participate in races If Honda had not accepted me. I was not able to become the top at that time, and I experienced many hardships. However, since then, things have been going well with me. I believe that this experience has made me a stronger and more superior driver. I can say the same thing about my mental condition as well as my driving skills. Those failures and setbacks have made me a great driver.

What is your next challenge?

In addition to the next race, I think about things one year ahead, instead of five or ten years down the line. Recently, I have been thinking about the coming Bahrain Grand Prix. I would like to get some rest now, so I am not spending too much time going over it in my mind. However, I would like to drive even more stably in the next year. I believe that I was able to achieve more than 2022. Nevertheless, I would like to go beyond even that level. It would be great if I could fall within the top ten. As for the team, I would consider it to be wonderful for the team to be within the top six places at least. Of course, top performance and help are somewhat necessary, but I think it will be possible to attain. My surrounding conditions are prone to change. Even so, maintaining the great pace of our vehicles, we would earn a place on the victory stand. These are goals I would like to achieve.