Yuki Tsunoda Inspires Japan’s First Female Racer in Super Formula to Emulate His Red Bull F1 Journey

Women in everyday Formula 1? Seems a distant dream. Even after the F1 Academy setup, the presence of women at the apex of motorsports is zilch. But the aspiring female drivers haven’t stopped trying. After all, the first-ever driver of a car was a woman, Marth Benz. However, the one we are talking about today is Juju Noda, an 18-year-old Japanese sensation who is stirring up a storm. Though she is the daughter of ex-F1 driver Hideki Noda, she also looks up to another. Hint: His dream is to open a restaurant. Yes, it is none other than Yuki Tsunoda.

18-year-old Juju Noda is a teenage sensation in Japan. The daughter of the former F1 driver, Hideki Noda, is working her way up the motorsport ladder and currently drives in the Super Formula. She also drives to the BOSS GP, where she can get used to the big formula cars. To give context to her brilliance, in 2020, Juju made her first appearance in single-seater racing, participating in the Danish Formula 4 championship, one of the few series that allow 14-year-olds to participate. She was able to secure pole positions in all three race weekends, converted one race win in the opening round, but ultimately finished sixth in the standings. But she is not satisfied and wants to follow in the footsteps of her compatriot to replicate his journey to F1.

When asked about the same, as quoted by F1 Maximaal, she said, “Of course I look up to him, but I want to be him,” she tries to explain, meaning that she also wants to be a Formula 1 driver. “I still have to grow more,” Noda smiles. “So I’ll do my best every weekend and also in the future. About Super Formula, of course, I want to be a top driver. But this year I still need to gain experience. In the future, my dream is to become a Formula 1 driver. That was my dream when I was little, and it hasn’t changed.”

Noda’s father also added, “Maybe the next step could be Formula 2. It’s often the case, when you’re racing against talented guys, that a lot of them are backed by a Formula 1 team, or get some kind of backing from a manufacturer. So she has to become one of them. So that’s probably going to happen soon. Red Bull would also be a very good option, wouldn’t it? ‘Yes, that would be cool!” While Yuki Tsunoda is already an inspiration for an entire nation and more, there is so much more that he deserves in Formula 1. At least that is what his teammate thinks.

“He’s doing a really good job”: Daniel Ricciardo rates teammate Yuki Tsunoda

Though Yuki Tsunoda has been constantly overlooked by Red Bull management for promotion to the senior team, his teammate Daniel Ricciardo is all ga ga for him. Daniel Ricciardo reckons that his VCARB teammate Yuki Tsunoda can succeed in Formula 1 and believes the Japanese driver simply needs to prove he can execute when winning opportunities come his way.

Ricciardo stated in an exclusive interview with Motorsport.com., “I think now he’s definitely getting probably the credit that he deserves. Probably a lot of people still think about his first year where he made a lot of mistakes, and it felt like his adjustment into Formula 1, it just felt like maybe he couldn’t really adjust and it was all a bit too much. [In 2021 and 2022, Pierre] Gasly was consistently beating him, but then I remember the second half of that year, he actually started to probably have a better showing than Gasly. He’s definitely grown a lot in the last couple of years. So yes, he’s fast. Do I rate him? I do. He’s probably become a bit more aware of his attitude as well. I think he’s doing a really good job.”

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