Yuki Tsunoda has been outed as a Jason Statham superfan by his performance coach after meeting the actor at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

The AlphaTauri star has enjoyed a successful season and finished eighth at the Yas Marina Circuit on Sunday. Before the race though, the Japanese driver was given the chance to meet Statham, whose films include The Meg, Snatch and The Expendables.

Tsunoda is clearly a huge fan of the action star and was left overwhelmed when he met him after Saturday’s qualifying session. Statham congratulated the AlphaTauri star on his impressive sixth-place start, though the driver’s performance coach sensed a chance to out him.

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Michael Italiano, who previously worked with Daniel Ricciardo, revealed to Statham that Tsunoda had changed his iPhone Airdrop name to ‘Jason Statham’s son’. The actor was delighted at the revelation.

Statham started the meeting by saying: “Nice to meet you. How are you lads?” Tsunoda was left overwhelmed though, reponding by saying: “Holy Moly. My heart is so… Feeling good. You’ve made my day already.”

The actor then congratulated Tsunoda on his result, saying: “Good qualifying right? Well done.” Tsunoda was appreciative of Statham’s comments, responding: “Thanks very much. I want to tell you, I love your films.”

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Yuki Tsunoda has been outed as a Jason Statham superfan after meeting the actor ( Image: F1)

Italiano then jumped in to reveal Tsunoda’s secret, with the driver’s permission. He started: “You should tell him. You know what you should do? You should bluetooth him something. So you can see it.

“Yuki’s got a confession to tell you. His Airdrop name, so you know how you can personalise your Airdrop name on your iPhone. So usually you put your initial or something. Do you want me to share what yout Airdrop name is?

“His Airdrop name, this is a true story, is ‘Jason Statham’s son’. That’s his Airdrop name. Every time his phone connects to the car, it says ‘connected to Jason Statham’s son’.” Statham was delighted to hear that revelation, laughing before saying: “Good choice. I have a responsibility to take care of you now. If I ever need to.”

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Tsunoda was named Driver of the Day after finishing eighth in Sunday’s race, to secure 14th place in the Drivers’ World Championship. And the 23-year-old was left delighted with his result.

“It was a tough race. At one point, I thought we could finish in the top six. It didn’t work, but we don’t regret staying out and trying the one-stop strategy. I gave it my all, and I’m happy with myself. It was an enjoyable season overall,” he said.

“We struggled with car performance at the start, but we were able to step it up throughout the season. Although we didn’t achieve P7 in the Constructors’ Championship, we improved from P10 to P8 in the final part of the season, all thanks to the team in Bicester and Faenza.”