Tokyo, man.
Tokyo drift.
- Oh la, P! - What a start.
Oh my... The phone went...
Oh là! No!
Oh là.
Putain!
No!
I'm sliding through Tokyo, man.
Oh no! No, you didn't!
Don't worry. My fart does not smell, luckily.
- Lo siento! - Lo siento, amigo.
Lo siento, amigo, but this is not possible.
Action.
My name is Yuki Tsunoda,
and this is my second season racing for Scuderia AlphaTauri.
I came from Japan.
The next one, I fucking put the handbrake on,
and then I kick you out of my car.
Yuki is special.
I must say, I don't think I've ever met someone like him before.
He does feel like a... a little bro.
Where the fuck are you going?
This is my line. This is my curb, my corner.
Just relax, man.
Don't relax.
Nobody pass me.
Relationship with Pierre has been a really good relationship.
Definitely special.
He's a good teammate,
but also he's a good friend.
Seems like everywhere you go, it's raining.
Yeah, recently my heart is crying
because you're going to a different team next year.
Your heart is crying. Oh!
You're being too cute now.
Don't make me emotional.
I know you're gonna miss me so much.
- I am.
I don't know why he's leaving AlphaTauri.
The amount of things he achieved in that team was, uh, massive.
Has been a really enjoyable two years I spent with him.
It's really sad that he is leaving.
I must say, we have had quite a lot of fun.
- No!
- Help! Help!
Welcome to Suzuka.
We've not been here since 2019, and we are very excited to be back.
Brilliant. Let's rock and roll.
Go Yuki!
- Give me your autograph. - Yes.
Thank you very much.
Suzuka definitely, for me, is the best track in the world.
Last time, in 2019, I was watching at turn two.
So, in four years, I came back as a Formula 1 driver,
so it's been, uh, incredible...
Welcome Alpine.
Merci beaucoup.
To be an Alpine driver, I'm not gonna lie, like, I feel super proud.
I'm super excited about this new chapter.
They are the fourth-best team,
and I want the most competitive car available,
and, um, that's what they can provide.
How does it feel?
It feels pretty good.
It's very emotional, obviously, for me,
because you have been a part of my whole career in Formula 1.
My first race in Malaysia, my first win, my first podium,
is shared with all of you guys.
Let's enjoy these last, uh... last weekends together.
Ragazzi.
Grazie.
I think Pierre leaving could have a really big impact on Yuki.
He'll miss the sounding board.
I think he'll miss the friendship.
I think he'll miss having an ally on the other side of the garage to him.
Yuki is fast, but we know can be a little... a little wild.
Fuck! Sorry!
He's still crazy at times behind the wheel.
No! Fuck!
Anything that goes through his head is out of his mouth.
You can push harder.
I am. Shut up!
I'm excited.
I'm not.
When I have workouts, it just ruins my whole day.
Stroll 1.4 behind.
Stop talking to me. I am in the braking zone.
Don't talk to me anymore. Fucking engine brake!
He's still a diamond in the rough,
but he's not a rookie anymore,
and he has to learn to stand on his own two feet.
- Thank you. - Morning. Welcome.
Thank you.
The rice should be here. You cannot put rice here.
- You're a very strange man, aren't you? - No. It is, in Japan.
There's a rule about where you can put the rice.
But you hate rules.
You always say, "Don't tell me what to do."
You had a good night?
Yeah, I slept well.
Ready to go?
Yeah.
Yuki Tsunoda still is, uh, sometimes too undisciplined
and too unpatient.
And then, of course, he's disappointed because mistakes are coming.
- Good. - Yeah.
- Let's see then. Okay. - Yeah.
He must show that he has matured enough for Formula 1.
Now I am leaving,
Yuki has to step up and improve and... and deliver better performances.
Yuki!
- Lots of fans? - Yeah.
If, uh, he does not perform well, then everything could become a problem.
Performing well in Japan, it will be the most important,
yeah, race so far in Formula 1.
Driving at home in front of all the friends, all the family,
it can add a little bit of pressure,
but you need to transform this pressure into something positive.
It's your home turf.
Your biggest supporting force is gonna be there.
If you're gonna be on your game at any point,
that's the one that you need to bring your A-star game.
- Come on, let's go.
Just keep walking. Keep walking.
Give him some space, guys.
Just keep walking. Just keep walking.
I don't think he realized.
He arrives there, and he's a rock star.
All right, move back, back up.
When I saw that, I was a bit worried for him
because it's gonna be overwhelming.
You have to, like...
Okay, mate. Guys, guys, guys.
Holy...
The pressure drains you out,
and then you get no energy to focus on the right stuff,
which is the driving part and the racing part.
Well, hello, everyone. We're here at Suzuka.
It's the Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix,
round 18 of the season,
and it's been raining ever since we woke up this morning.
Yuki!
- Good luck! - Thank you.
- Morning, Yuki. -Konnichiwa.
How are you feeling?
Pretty good. Bit of unfortunate rain, but, uh, can't wait still.
Hello.
- All right? - All good.
Are we looking all right?
- Everything on time? - Yeah, yeah.
When you look at it, it looks like it's gonna get worse.
Wind is zero.
It's raining.
It's nice, the English weather, huh?
What do you mean, "English weather"?
Yeah, 'cause it never rains in Spain!
When it rains, it makes the race more stressful for the drivers
because you never know what happened in front of you.
If a car spins and stands in the middle of the street,
you don't see it.
You must have complete concentration.
We're going to start with a little bit of oversteer.
And then, um, survive.
Yep.
I never experienced like that conditions in Suzuka.
I know Suzuka.
If it's rainy conditions,
it can be dangerous and really, really difficult.
It's very tricky in these conditions.
Visibility in the wet is so poor.
And when you travel at that speed,
you've gotta have, like, a clear mind
'cause if you get it wrong, that's it, the race is over.
I'm feeling more pressure, more expectation from the team
and, uh, more expectations from fans.
I want to show that I am improving and became a better driver.
There are 20 cars lining up today
with Verstappen starting first
and the driver the fans are all here to see,
Yuki Tsunoda, is lining up in 13th.
Radio check.
Loud and clear.
Intensity is gonna get much worse than this?
Intensity like this for the next half an hour
and then increase.
Track is quite wet now.
The forecast is looking pretty grim.
I feel nervous.
Definitely more emotional.
I just want to cross the finish line for the Japanese fans.
It's lights out and away we go!
Can't see a damn thing!
Visibility is close to none.
Fucking dangerous. Can't see anything.
The conditions are too crazy.
Vettel, the car behind.
Yeah, tell me all this info because I cannot see much.
Fuck, I got hit by Alonso.
Really bad. Really bad.
Try and keep going.
Man! Man, man, man, man.
How do you drive in those conditions?
You're doing a good job with the brakes and tires.
Can't see anything again. It's hard to warm up the tire.
Oh no!
Carlos Sainz has spun round!
I crashed. I didn't see anything.
- Are you okay? - I am okay.
Fuck, I drove over something. I don't know what it was.
Debris from the Sainz crash is everywhere!
I took a fucking thing. What the hell is that?
I can't see in front of me.
Fucking board is stuck in the wing!
Okay, box. We will change the front wing and tires.
Those repairs are gonna push Gasly to the back of the grid,
meaning AlphaTauri's only chance of points lies with home boy Yuki Tsunoda.
Let's go.
Good, Yuki. Come on.
The roar of the crowd willing on Yuki Tsunoda.
Tsunoda 0.8 ahead.
Yuki Tsunoda has George Russell for company here.
Watch your mirrors behind.
Yeah, I am. I am.
Yuki, I know it's very difficult,
but we need to keep focus.
Tsunoda 0.6 ahead.
Yuki, the rain intensity is going to increase.
Rubbish!
0.3. You have overtake.
Russell out of last corner.
-Yuki, push. - Yeah, I know. I'm doing!
Fucking sh...
Copy.
Final lap.
Max Verstappen on his way to yet another victory.
This is checkered flag. Checkered flag.
P13. We tried, Yuki.
Just letting you know, I couldn't do anything at all.
I didn't want to, of course, crash or, you know, retire,
but I wanted to score points.
It's a bit of a shame that I couldn't do it.
I was a bit upset, disappointed.
Yuki has to bring the performance
to score the points for the team,
which is very important.
Pierre scores a lot of points,
and to let such a driver go is always difficult.
The competition is really tough.
That means you need a strong second driver as well.
And that's why we decided to take Nyck de Vries on board.
Season five.
And I'm in it.
I'm Nyck de Vries,
and I'm racing for Scuderia AlphaTauri in '23.
Hello.
Good morning.
I'll sit here.
Nyck, could you talk about the speed of how all of this has happened,
you know, you ending up on the grid?
I've been kind of part of this Formula 1 carousel
for... for quite some time.
However, certainly, Monza has, you know, speed up a lot of the conversation.
Okay, this is good, Nyck. Keep at it.
Copy that.
Mercedes reserve driver Nyck de Vries
is making his Formula 1 debut today,
providing cover for the unwell Alex Albon at Williams.
You are starting the last lap. Doing a good job.
Nyck de Vries, points on his debut.
There you go, boyo. P9.
Wow. Wow.
Points on debut. Thank you.
That is a terrific finish for Nyck de Vries today.
Nyck, what do you think you can bring to AlphaTauri next season?
Um, I believe a bit of maturity.
Yuki is super entertaining for all of us.
I'm not sure if I should trust whatever he teaches me.
And I'm not sure if it's wise to repeat or... or replicate the actions.
I can't really overstate
how impressive Nyck de Vries is as a racing driver.
He's the real deal.
And in having a new teammate who will need to mark his own territory,
Yuki will experience something in that team that he's not had before.
Someone who will turn up with the sole objective of destroying him.
This industry is all about performance,
so that's where my focus will be,
and I'm gonna make sure that, you know, we succeed here.
I am very determined,
focused, disciplined,
and, um... and a perfectionist.
He knows how to race. He knows how to win.
I rate him very high as a driver.
From the junior categories,
last year he won also the Formula E World Championship.
Now I'm more relaxed as Nyck de Vries is on board.
Nyck makes sense more compared to other drivers,
because he showed a really good performance in Monza.
I know he's fast, so I can't wait to fight hard each other
and progress together, um, as a team.
Yeah.
Reckon he could beat you?
Uh, no.
- You good, Yuki? Ready? Happy? - Yeah.
- You wanna go window seat? - Yeah, okay.
You can go on my lap if you want!
Hmm.
How long are we driving?
We're almost there, I'd say. About five minutes or so.
Do you remember this, Pierre?
Oh my God!
That's the first time you met him.
How old was he?
Uh, fifteen years old?
- You were in Formula what? Formula 4? - Three years ago.
Or Formula 3 when I met you?
- Formula 4. - Formula 4.
Things went so fast. Formula 4, Formula 3, Formula 2.
One year in each category, and then straight to Formula 1.
Yeah.
You know, Yuki, I always... always had his back.
All last year.
I always kind of, uh, cheered him on
and... and tried to support and tried to help him.
Clearly, compared from year one to year two,
I think you've learned a lot and developed a lot.
Sometimes you have issues, the car is not working the way you want,
and... and the team can also affect your performance.
You need to really pay attention to, like, the fine details.
That will make you different and stronger than others.
I know things are gonna turn around at some point.
You know, people just remember your last race.
That's how the sport works.
You need to use every opportunity you have to prove that you have what it takes.
Okay.
There's still lots of things I can learn from him
and how he prepares the race
and how he prepares into the season.
How he's acting to the... How he acts in the race week.
I think the progress I've done this year is much more than last year.
But my consistency, in terms of race results,
has to be improved.
- You're gonna miss me for sure. - Maybe for two, three minutes.
Well, I'm happy. I'll take that,
that you'll miss me at least two or three minutes, yeah.
I'll take that.
Here we go. In a place where it's all about the Longhorns,
today it's all about the horsepower. Welcome to Austin
and the 2022 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix.
Amazing.
You gonna drive in these tomorrow?
- Yeah. - Yeah.
Nice.
That looks good, but my stomach can't handle it.
No.
Selfie please?
Thank you.
There's something in the fridge that you might start drinking.
Okay, yellow one.
Twelve, please.
I know that training is super important,
uh, to increase the performance,
and, yeah, I wouldn't say I'm enjoying, but I'm doing, yeah.
Okay, brace.
Ten, nine, eight, seven...
Three, two, one.
I'm not afraid about mistakes.
Brace. Ten, nine...
I don't have any fear like that.
Four, three...
But I know there's a lot of space that I can improve as a driver.
Okay, maybe hold onto something for this one. Oh yeah, you reckon? Hold.
And relax. Okay.
Red.
White.
In general, I would say I'm feeling more in control.
Ready, set...
I experienced most of the situations last year,
so I know how to handle it.
See?
I'm not rookie anymore,
so there's not any room to excuse, so, uh... yeah.
I know.
- No pressure.
Many people's favorite race is about to get underway.
We're in Austin, Texas, and the 2022 Austin Grand Prix.
- What's with the jacket? - I don't know.
- It's sunny out there. It's 30 degrees. - It keeps me warm.
Is your horse here or not?
Neigh.
I should have got it.
Did it have a pass?
- Yep. - It has?
Yeah. Did you see?
- Horsey McHorse? - Horsey McHorse.
So, where do you start?
Uh, I got a penalty anyway, so I'm also stuck behind that, so...
I'm P19 again.
How you doing?
- All good. - Good.
- Buongiorno. - Can I?
- Yeah, sure. - Thank you so much.
Nyck saved himself a spot in Formula 1 next year, so...
- Awesome. Congratulations. - Thank you very much.
- Sounds great. - Cheers.
- Yuki. - Yuki.
- So Williams... - Yuki.
Second AlphaTauri.
Massive pressure for Yuki.
If he wants to prove himself
as the guy who can potentially lead the team into the future,
Yuki's gotta step it up. This is it.
He has to deliver.
Ferrari's Carlos Sainz starts on pole position today.
AlphaTauri have Pierre Gasly in 11th,
and Yuki Tsunoda starting from the back row in 19th.
Yuki, Latifi, and Zhou on medium.
Schumacher on hard in front of us.
Just waiting for the red lights.
Just want to show my performance.
I want to show that I can, you know, do well.
And it's lights out and away we go!
Verstappen getting away better
and has that inside line going into turn one.
Sainz is spun round and is tagged!
Come on! What happened there?
Oh! No!
Be careful.
I will say, my driving is kind of aggressive.
You're doing good.
And I have good confidence, uh, for overtaking.
You're good. Now is the time to make time.
Yuki Tsunoda might be able to get ahead, there, of Mick Schumacher.
A terrific start for him.
Managed to navigate his way around the chaos.
Offset two. Good job.
Yeah, copy.
Yuki Tsunoda is driving brilliantly here
and has already gained five places.
We are catching the pack.
But can Tsunoda keep this up and get into the points?
Car behind is Tsunoda on medium.
Keep pushing in the corners.
Tsunoda's really on the pace here,
and he's catching his teammate Pierre Gasly.
He's slow!
Understood.
So Verstappen leads from Lewis Hamilton,
and Fernando Alonso up to eighth place.
Overtake is available.
Car behind, Alonso, 0.3.
Fernando Alonso, he's made contact with Lance Stroll!
That was a very heavy crash.
Safety car. Safety car.
Lance, are you okay?
Yeah, I'm fine.
They all did extremely well to avoid that.
Okay, Yuki, at the restart,
the instruction is to not fight with Gasly.
Why?
We fight with the cars behind.
It's gonna be really shit.
Safety car is coming in, so we can get racing again.
Yuki, eight tenths behind.
Still Gasly ahead of Tsunoda.
Tsunoda's so much faster through there.
This doesn't make sense.
Box, box. Box, box.
The AlphaTauri drivers on different tire strategies today,
it gives Yuki Tsunoda the opportunity to pull away
from his soon-to-depart teammate.
The three cars ahead are very slow.
What should I do?
Stay positive.
Sebastian Vettel on fresher tires behind.
Tsunoda, 0.8. You've got DRS.
Copy.
Keep doing the same.
It's fucking stressful.
Yeah, I know, Yuki.
Yuki, you are doing well. It's a good race.
Just keep focus.
Tires are good. We'll do well.
Okay.
Okay, let's push now.
Yeah, copy.
P12, Yuki, P12.
Tsunoda behind, so keep focused. We are in a good position for points.
I've got nothing left.
Maximum push now.
Go for it.
Overtake.
Okay, good job.
We are P11.
That's another superb overtake by Tsunoda
as he calmly passes Zhou.
He's just one position away from reaching the points.
Okay, Yuki, we are catching Albon.
Just keep focused.
Copy.
Four laps to go. Four laps to go. Currently P10.
- Tsunoda behind. - Really bad for tires.
Tsunoda battling there.
This is such a close finish.
Good job, Yuki.
Honestly...
Oh no! And that mistake could spell disaster for Yuki
and his hopes of securing points today.
Unbelievable.
Yuki, we need to keep focus.
I learned to kind of focus myself.
I want to score points.
I want to show that I can deliver the performance for the team.
I want to get that top seat.
Two laps to go.
Push.
Yuki Tsunoda going off.
This is brilliant Formula 1 action.
Tsunoda ahead, then.
- We are fighting Albon. - Copy.
Alex, this is the final lap.
Yuki, DRS enabled.
-Let's go. - Yeah, copy.
- Okay, we are in front.
That was absolutely brilliant!
Last two corners.
Checkered flag. Checkered flag.
This is P10 for us.
Finally! Scored points.
Very good race, Yuki.
I know it was difficult, but it was very good.
Good job, guys.
Thank you, guys. I appreciate it.
He drove a brilliant race, I must say.
It was one of his strongest races all of the season.
It was a hard fight.
It was very competitive.
That's the reason why he scored the point.
I'm pretty happy, what I done in the race.
I knew what I had to improve,
and if I improved those things,
I knew I gonna perform well and they will deliver the results.
Well, he deserves to be in Formula 1.
He is really fast,
and, um, I expect that, in the future,
we will see a very successful Yuki Tsunoda.
Hello, hello, hello, hello.
- Hello. - Hello.
♪ Hello ♪
♪ It's me ♪
♪ Such a difference ♪
♪ Between us ♪
- ♪ And a million miles ♪
I think Yuki has improved in his approach to racing.
Showed more respect to the sport and took it more seriously.
♪ Hello from the outside ♪
♪ At least I can... ♪
♪ Tried ♪
- We did well.
Good job.
I'm ready to be a team leader in Scuderia AlphaTauri.
Yuki, it's been a pleasure.
Been a pleasure.
I am out.
With Nyck joining Yuki next year in the team,
who's gonna be the lead driver, do you think?
This, we will see. This is not decided yet.
Well, this is an opportunity I've been living for my whole life.
There is nothing stopping me from embracing this and taking this.
So I'm grateful,
but, at the same time, I wanna, you know, make a point.
Are we getting shit from the others on the cost cap?
I guess so.
There's just no excuse for it.
I think what we need is a different approach.
You making something up?
If you dish it out, you've gotta be prepared to take it.
Just a joke. Just an absolute joke.
This could be my last ever race,
but my job as a driver is still the same.
We have to finish ahead of Mclaren.
- How's my pace? - Need to push.
- It'll take close to a miracle. - Useless, guys.