By: Sam Hall
Tsunoda becomes the first Japanese driver to race in F1 since Kamui Kobayashi raced for Caterham in 2014.
The 20-year-old drove on Tuesday in the post-season young-driver-test, setting the fifth fastest time in a day topped by Fernando Alonso.
“Like most racing drivers, it has always been my goal to race in Formula 1, so I am very happy with this news,” said Tsunoda.
Outgoing Kvyat suggested across the season-ending weekend that the deal for him to be replaced by Tsunoda, who finished third in his rookie F2 campaign this year, was completed a “long time” ago despite official confirmation coming three days after the conclusion of the season.
Across the year, Tsunoda scored two feature race wins and one sprint race victory for the Carlin team.
AlphaTauri team principal Franz Tost said of Tsunoda: “Red Bull has been following Yuki’s career for a while now and I am sure he will be a great asset to our team.
“Watching him in Formula 2 this year, he has demonstrated the right mix of racing aggression and good technical understanding.
“During the test in Imola in November when he drove our 2018 car, his lap times were very consistent over a race simulation, he progressed throughout the day and gave our engineers useful feedback.
“In addition, his integration with the Honda engineers has been seamless, which certainly helps. At the test in Abu Dhabi this week, he proved to be a fast learner and that he is ready to make the step to Formula One.”
Source: gpfans.com