Yuki Tsunoda will join AlphaTauri, replacing Daniil Kvyat in Formula One

FAENZA, Italy — Japan will have a driver in Formula One for the first time in seven years after AlphaTauri confirmed Wednesday that Yuki Tsunoda will replace Daniil Kvyat at the team in 2021.

Tsunoda will move into Formula One after placing third in Formula Two last season with three victories. He won the F2 rookie of the year award as the highest-scoring driver in his first season. Tsunoda, 20, will be the first F1 driver to be born in the 21st century.

He will partner Pierre Gasly at AlphaTauri, which is Red Bull’s second team with a focus on developing talented drivers who can represent the main team.

“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,” AlphaTauri team principal Franz Tost said. “Watching him in Formula 2 this year, he has demonstrated the right mix of racing aggression and good technical understanding.”

Welcoming @yukitsunoda07 to the team! 🤜 🤛 The Japanese Red Bull & Honda junior driver finished 3rd in this year's Formula 2 Championship 💪

📲 https://t.co/eM5ueQ3yoB pic.twitter.com/pCjt8mZURg

— Scuderia AlphaTauri (@AlphaTauriF1) December 16, 2020

Tsunoda drove this year’s AlphaTauri car during testing Tuesday in Abu Dhabi, placing fifth-fastest of 15 runners.

The last Japanese driver in F1 was Kamui Kobayashi, who raced for Toyota, Sauber and Caterham before leaving at the end of the 2014 season.

Kvyat is without an F1 drive for 2021. The Russian has spent six seasons in F1 with AlphaTauri and Red Bull.

In 110 starts from 2014-20, he became his country’s most successful driver with three podiums and a best finish of second place at the Hungaroring in 2015, his lone full season with Red Bull. Kvyat was demoted after four races in 2016 to Scuderia Toro Rosso, which was rebranded as AlphaTauri last season.

Kvyat spent the 2018 season out of Formula One (and working as a development driver for Ferrari) after being dropped from the Red Bull program, but he returned with its developmental team last year.

🗣️ Franz Tost "As Yuki will drive for us next year, we say goodbye to @kvyatofficial, I want to thank Daniil very much for his input to the team, especially this year, he helped us a lot with his experience to set up and improve the performance of the car." pic.twitter.com/N6sN9IxFgz

— Scuderia AlphaTauri (@AlphaTauriF1) December 16, 2020

The announcement of Tsunoda means that 18 of the 20 spots have been filled on the grid for the 2021 Formula One season. Mercedes (which is expected to re-sign Lewis Hamilton this month) and Red Bull (reportedly deciding between keeping Alex Albon or adding Sergio Perez) have the remaining openings.

UPDATED 2021 F1 GRID 👀

We're almost there…#F1 pic.twitter.com/SlV52wQn8B

— Formula 1 (@F1) December 16, 2020

The NTT IndyCar Series will return to the Motor City for the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix but with start times in a new location for 2023.

After a 30-year run on Belle Isle, the Detroit GP has moved a few miles south to the streets of downtown on a new nine-turn, 1.645-mile circuit that runs along the Detroit River.

It’s the first time single-seater open-cockpit cars have raced on the streets of Detroit since a CART event on a 2.5-mile downtown layout from 1989-91. Formula One also raced in Detroit from 1982-88.

The reimagined Detroit Grand Prix also will play host to nightly concerts and bring in venders from across the region. Roger Penske predicts the new downtown locale will be bigger for Detroit than when the city played host to the 2006 Super Bowl.

Here are the details and IndyCar start times for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach race weekend (all times are ET):

CHEVROLET DETROIT GRAND PRIX INDYCAR START TIMES

TV: Sunday, 3 p.m. ET on NBC and streaming on Peacock, the NBC Sports App and NBCSports.com. Leigh Diffey is the announcer with analysts Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe. Dave Burns, Marty Snider and Kevin Lee are the pit reporters. Click here for the full NBC Sports schedule for IndyCar in 2023.

Peacock also will be the streaming broadcast for both practices and qualifying.

POSTRACE SHOW ON PEACOCK: After the race’s conclusion, an exclusive postrace show will air on Peacock with driver interviews, postrace analysis and the podium presentation. To watch the extended postrace show, click over to the special stream on Peacock after Sunday’s race ends.

COMMAND TO START ENGINES: 3:23 p.m. ET

GREEN FLAG: 3:30 p.m. ET

PRACTICE: Friday, 3 p.m. (Peacock Premium); Saturday, 9:05 a.m. (Peacock Premium); Sunday, 10 a.m. (Peacock Premium)

PRACTICE RESULTS: Session I l Session II l Combined

QUALIFYING: Saturday, 1:20 p.m. (Peacock Premium)

STARTING LINEUP: Alex Palou captured the first street course pole of his IndyCar career; click here for where everyone will begin Sunday’s race

RACE DISTANCE: The race is 100 laps (170 miles) on a nine-turn, 1.645-mile temporary street course in downtown Detroit.

TIRE ALLOTMENT: Seven sets primary, four sets alternate. Rookie drivers are allowed one extra primary set for the first practice.

PUSH TO PASS: 150 seconds of total time with a maximum time of 15 seconds per activation (Indy NXT: 150 seconds total, 15 seconds per). The push-to-pass is not available on the initial start or any restart unless it occurs in the final two laps or three minutes of a timed race. The feature increases the power of the engine by approximately 60 horsepower.

FORECAST: According to Wunderground.com, it’s expected to be 80 degrees with a 0% chance of rain.

ENTRY LIST: Click here to view the 27 drivers racing Sunday at Detroit

INDY NXT RACES: Saturday, 12:05 p.m. 45 laps/55 minutes (Peacock Premium); Sunday, 12:50 p.m. 45 laps/55 minutes (Peacock Premium)

INDY NXT ENTRY LIST: Click here to view the 19 drivers racing at Detroit