From Fushida to Tsunoda: Japan's long journey in Formula 1
Three podium finishes in fifty years. Japan's Formula 1 palmares is meagre to say the least, at least as far as drivers are concerned. Even Russia has done better with four. Eighteen Japanese drivers have taken part in at least one race in motorsport's blue riband category, but only three of them have ever finished in the top three. The three who have done so can therefore claim to have achieved quite a feat and they are, in chronological order, Aguri Suzuki (1990), Takuma Sato (2004) and Kamui Kobayashi (2012).
It's worth noting that two of those podiums came at Suzuka, which this weekend hosts the 40th Formula 1 race to be held on Japanese soil. 38 of those were actual Japanese Grands Prix, while two went by the name of the Pacific Grand Prix, held at Aida in 1994 and 1995. The two “prophets in their own land” to borrow a biblical phrase, were Suzuki, third with a Lamborghini-powered Larrousse, even if that particular race was better remembered for the controversial first corner crash that eliminated those two eternal rivals, Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna, and Kobayashi, in a Ferrari-powered Sauber, who also finished third, to record that team's tenth and final podium. In between these two, Takuma Sato recorded the best ever result for a Japanese driver in Formula 1, when he finished second in a BAR-Honda at Indianapolis in 2004.
Today, the hopes of the entire nation rest on Yuki Tsunoda, who this weekend makes his first appearance in a Red Bull. It's the first time that a Japanese driver will race for what is considered a top team, thanks to several world championship titles to its name. Yuki will also have the added pressure of making this debut at his home race, well aware that what is probably at stake here is not just his future in the Red Bull empire, but in Formula 1 itself. Next year, Honda, which has supported Yuki's career to date, will be teaming up with Aston Martin, who theoretically already have their 2026 driver line-up decided in the shape of the Alonso-Stroll duo. When it comes to finding a drive for next year and beyond, Tsunoda will face a “mission impossible” scenario worthy of Tom Cruise if he does not deliver something special, and competing on equal terms with four-time world champion Max Verstappen certainly qualifies as such.
Formula 1's pioneer among the drivers from the Land of the Rising Sun is Hiroshi Fushida who stepped onto the Formula 1 stage in 1975. His is still a famous name for Japanese race fans, maybe less so with the younger ones. He had already made the headlines two years earlier, when he became the first Japanese driver to take part in the Le Mans 24 Hours, sharing a Sigma, powered by a Mazda rotary engine, with fellow countryman Tetsu Ikuzawa and France's Patrick Dal Bo.
Born in Kyoto in 1946, the son of the biggest manufacturer of kimonos in the world, Fushida-san was signed up as a test driver for the Maki Engineering F1 team, set up by a group of youngsters, all under the age of 30, including the engineer Masao Ono. After a series of fruitless attempts to qualify, relying on the talents of New Zealander Howden Ganley, as well as simply being refused entries on the basis that its Ford-Cosworth-powered car was clearly not technically good enough, the team switched to a homegrown driver for the 1975 Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort. Fushida managed to qualify, albeit 13 seconds off Niki Lauda's pole time in the Ferrari, but he was unable to start the race because of an engine failure. Two races later at Silverstone, he tried again. This time the gap to pole was only three seconds, but with only 26 grid slots available, his 28th place qualifying time was still not good enough. That was the end of his time in Formula 1 and Japan would have to wait another 18 months to see one of its drivers on the grid for a Grand Prix.
The first ever Japanese Grand Prix was held at Fuji in 1976 and no fewer than four Japanese drivers were entered: Noritake Takahara in a Surtees, Kazuyoshi Hoshino driving a Tyrrell and Masahiro Hasemi in a Kojima, as well as Masami Kuwashima in a Wolf, all Ford-Cosworth-powered. All four qualified, but only three raced, Kuwashima beset by sponsor problems. Hasemi even qualified as high as tenth and was the only one of the trio to be classified at the finish of the race, coming home eleventh, seven laps behind the winner, Mario Andretti. The Grand Prix cemented its place in Formula 1 history as immortalised in the film “Rush,” with Lauda bravely retiring from the race, as James Hunt went on to claim the world championship title. It also marked the start of an important chapter in Japanese motorsport.
