Yuki Tsunoda still hasn’t achieved a certain stat yet in F1 and Damon Hill ‘can’t believe’ it

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Damon Hill expressed his surprise at Yuki Tsunoda’s lack of a podium during his five-year active career in Formula 1.

After Nico Hulkenberg’s heroics at Silverstone saw him take his first podium in the sport after 239 attempts, the spotlight has been cast on the remaining F1 drivers who are yet to taste the champagne in Parc Ferme.

On the updated list of drivers with the most Grands Prix without a podium, Tsunoda currently sits fourth all-time with 99 entries and is currently the highest-placed active driver on there.

The Japanese driver’s best finish to date came in his rookie season at the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix where he placed fourth for Scuderia AlphaTauri.

The unwanted records are seemingly piling up for the 25-year-old, with Tsunoda setting a Red Bull record at Silverstone for their first-ever back-to-back last-placed finishes.

Damon Hill thinks it’s ‘unbelievable’ Yuki Tsunoda doesn’t have an F1 podium yet

The majority of Tsunoda’s tenure in F1 has been spent within Red Bull‘s sister team. However, since his move up the pit-lane, team-mate Max Verstappen has achieved four podiums including a victory at Tsunoda’s home Grand Prix in Suzuka.

Speaking on The F1 Show by Sky Sports, David Croft and Damon Hill discussed the new leaders of the unwanted stat, starting with a tribute from Croft to the man who inherited Hulkenberg’s record, “Adrian Sutil. Stand up, take a bow. You now have the highest number of races in Formula 1 without a podium.”

“Yeah but the person who’s currently racing is Yuki Tsunoda, who has 99 races without a podium,” Hill replied. “Unbelievable, I mean I can’t believe he’s not been able to.

“So he could actually break that one as well otherwise he could be chasing. I don’t think he will get to Nico’s level though.”

Japan is still without an F1 Grand Prix winner

Another stat that the Sky Sports F1 duo shed some light on was the fact that there hasn’t been a single Grand Prix winner hailing from Japan in the history of F1.

“The Japanese nation has had 500 World Championship Grand Prix without a win, more than any other nation,” said Croft.

“As we celebrate a 25th British win at Silverstone, Japan had a 500th Grand Prix without a victory.”

The stat is surprising, considering some of the single-seater talent Japan has produced with the likes of Takuma Sato and Kamui Kobayashi who went on to taste success following their stints in F1.

With the Red Bull driver in arguably the best position of his career to turn this stat around, a massive improvement will be needed in the second half of the season if Tsunoda wants to keep his seat for 2026.