Aston Martin shuts the door on Tsunoda reserve talk as Crawford named 2026 third driver
Aston Martin has confirmed Jak Crawford will step up as the team’s third driver for the 2026 Formula One season, a move that all but ends the idea of Yuki Tsunoda sliding into a reserve role at Silverstone next year.
Crawford, 20, will serve as Aston’s on-call reserve at every round of the expanded 24-race campaign, continuing the American’s quick rise through the team’s junior ladder. The announcement lands in the slipstream of Felipe Drugovich’s exit to Formula E with Andretti and tidies up Aston Martin’s driver structure ahead of its new technical era with Honda from 2026.
The Honda link is what initially sparked whispers about Tsunoda. The Japanese driver, currently partnered with Max Verstappen at Red Bull Racing after being promoted early in 2025, has had a turbulent year and faces an uncertain future beyond this season. Given Tsunoda’s long-standing support from Honda and Aston’s forthcoming tie-up with the Japanese manufacturer, the connection was obvious. But with Crawford locked in as the designated third driver, that potential lifeline looks to have been cut — at least in a reserve capacity.
Aston Martin made the call with minimal fanfare, confirming Crawford’s role and schedule for next season. It’s a reward for a busy year behind the scenes: the North Carolinian joined the Aston Martin Driver Development programme in 2024 and has been a near-permanent fixture in the simulator this season, contributing to race ops and to next year’s AMR26 development. That car is set to be the first Aston Martin produced under the guidance of Adrian Newey, whose fingerprints on concept direction have been the talk of the paddock.
Crawford also got his first taste of an official grand prix weekend in Mexico City, deputising for Lance Stroll in FP1 and quietly going about the job on a green circuit at altitude. It wasn’t headline stuff — he wound up 19th — but it ticked a box, and Aston clearly liked what they saw. Combine that with a strong Formula 2 campaign — he sits second in the standings, 19 points off Leonardo Fornaroli with two rounds to go — and the trajectory is unmistakable.
The knock-on effect is what makes this interesting. With Drugovich moving on and Crawford installed, any short-term Aston contingency plan around Tsunoda looks unlikely. A reserve gig would’ve offered him a soft landing while the 2026 driver market takes shape and Honda settles into its new UK base. Instead, Tsunoda’s options narrow, and attention returns to how Red Bull and the wider grid reshuffle at season’s end.
None of this precludes Tsunoda from being considered for a race seat in the longer term — Aston Martin’s 2026 line-up isn’t set in stone, and the Honda relationship will matter. But the message today is clear: Aston is backing its pipeline and rewarding the work done in-house.
For a team positioning itself as a factory heavyweight from 2026, that matters. Continuity in the simulator, a reserve who knows the systems, and a junior who’s already embedded with engineers are all useful levers as power unit integration and a new aero rule set converge. And if Crawford’s F2 form carries on, Aston can drop a prepared, race-sharp driver into the car at short notice if required. That’s exactly what “third driver” is supposed to mean.
As for Drugovich, the timing makes sense. The 2022 F2 champion has been patient but short on racing miles; his switch to a full-time Formula E seat with Andretti gives him the track time he’s been missing, and it allows Aston to reset its roster around 2026.
Crawford’s appointment also underlines a subtle shift in Aston Martin’s junior approach. The team has been choosy with FP1 mileage and development roles; when it places a youngster, it’s with purpose. Mexico was the audition. 2026 is the job.
The bigger headlines will come later with driver contracts and the first proper sight of the AMR26. For now, though, the depth chart is set: Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll continue to front the project into next year, and Crawford is the next man up. For Tsunoda, the Silverstone side door has closed — and if there’s to be a Honda-led reunion in green, it’ll have to be through the main entrance.
