Tsunoda hoping to follow driver who benefitted from F1's most reckless act

What do you remember about the 1990 Japanese Grand Prix?

Maybe it is Ayrton Senna sprinting away, or perhaps it is Alain Prost taking the lead. Possibly it could be Prost taking advantage or even Senna trying to go through on the inside. 

But you definitely remember that it happened immediately and that it was absolutely predictable. 

The 1990 trip to Suzuka boils down to just nine seconds from lights out to Senna deciding to turn his McLaren into a Ferrari battering ram and taking Prost off at Turn 1, safe in the knowledge that if Prost failed to finish, Senna would be world champion. So, he made sure, Prost failed to finish. 

Incidentally, the car Senna used to take Prost out - McLaren MP4-5B chassis 7 was the actual machine Lewis Hamilton drove at the 2024 Sao Paulo GP.

But the race went on. Nelson Piquet won in a Benetton one-two from Roberto Moreno, but in third place was a piece of F1 history. 

In his Lola-Lamborghini, Aguri Suzuki (below) came home to finish in third place in front of his adoring home crowd.

It was the first-ever podium for a Japanese driver in a world championship grand prix, and to this date, just one of three.

Hoping to add a fourth podium to that list this weekend is Yuki Tsunoda. 

Promoted into the Red Bull seat he has long craved, Tsunoda has a golden opportunity to land a career-first podium, 35 years on from Suzuki's rostrum visit.

In his three previous Japanese GPs, Tsunoda has finished 13th, 12th, and picked up a first point with P10 in last season's race.

Tsunoda's best career finish is fourth in the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP, another controversial race, and has said a maiden podium would be "a dream" as he partners Max Verstappen for the first time. 

The other two podiums from Japanese drivers came at the 2004 United States GP at Indianapolis when Takuma Sato finished P3 for Honda whilst in 2012, Kamui Kobayashi fended off a late charge from McLaren's Jenson Button to land P3 for another emotional home podium. 

Sato would later go onto race for Suzuki with the Super Aguri team, effectively ceated for him after being given the boot from the works Honda squad for 2006 after it signed Rubens Barrichello.