Caught between Honda and Ford: Tsunoda’s 2026 limbo, and a 2027 play
Yuki Tsunoda’s path back to a full-time F1 seat isn’t blocked so much as it’s twisted into a very modern knot. Red Bull’s long-time Honda protégé has been moved into a reserve role for 2026, with Isack Hadjar stepping up alongside Max Verstappen, just as Red Bull pivots to its new Ford partnership and Honda crosses the aisle to Aston Martin.
It’s the kind of awkward manufacturer split that makes team PRs sweat. Tsunoda, still tied to Red Bull for the year, is yet to sign fresh terms with Honda for 2026. Honda Racing Corporation president Koji Watanabe says talks are ongoing — with Red Bull, not Tsunoda — over how the Japanese brand can continue to be involved with the driver it’s helped carry up the ladder.
“Negotiations are ongoing so no specific agreement has been finalised yet,” Watanabe told Motorsport.com, stressing Honda has “no problem” with Tsunoda staying in the Red Bull ecosystem despite Ford’s arrival. “The crucial point is how Ford, or rather Red Bull, views the situation. Depending on the terms Red Bull proposes, the scope within which Honda can utilise Tsunoda will change.”
That’s essentially the game: how much access and branding a Honda-backed driver gets inside a Ford-branded garage. It’s a nuanced dance, and it’s happening as Red Bull and sister team Racing Bulls prepare to show off their 2026 liveries at Ford’s season launch in Detroit later today — a very public statement of intent for the new power unit era.
For Tsunoda, the timing stings. He ends 2025 on the up, only to be shuffled into the shadows just as the regulations reset. Yet he’s kept the tone measured. “I appreciate their support over the years and let’s see how it goes in the future,” he said of Honda after learning of the change around the Abu Dhabi finale. “Next year is going to be a different direction we’re going to take, but I’ll still be around and I guess we’ll see how we can collaborate with each other.”
Read between the lines and the horizon is 2027. That’s when the driver market is expected to swing open as teams reassess life under the new rules. Haas, who kicked Tsunoda’s tyres back in the summer of 2024 before Red Bull extended him, hasn’t closed the door. But they’re now aligned with Toyota — hardly a clean fit for a Honda-backed racer — which complicates the picture.
Team boss Ayao Komatsu didn’t fan the flames, but he didn’t pour water on them either. His stance is pragmatic: get 2026 right, then pick from a broader, hungrier market a year later. “We have to focus on ’26 with our drivers and with brand-new regulations,” Komatsu said late last year. “Most of the drivers wanted to see how ’26 pans out and pick a better team for ’27. That’s why the driver market is going to be so open for ’27. To put ourselves in the best position, the important thing is we’ve got to have a competitive ’26 season.”
For now, Haas goes into 2026 with Oliver Bearman and Esteban Ocon, who finished last season separated by just three points — a neat little subplot of its own. Elsewhere, Red Bull’s decision to elevate Hadjar next to Verstappen has slammed one very valuable door in Tsunoda’s face for the short term. The question becomes whether he can turn a year on the sidelines into leverage: simulator miles, Friday outings, maybe a cameo should opportunity knock. He’ll need to be visible, sharp and politically available.
The bigger backdrop is classic F1 politics. Honda moving to Aston Martin for 2026 changes the energy around everyone it supports, Tsunoda included. Red Bull’s switch to Ford adds a corporate rivalry element that’s hard to paper over. And yet, in a pragmatic paddock, shared interests often win out. If there’s a way for Honda to keep backscratching while Tsunoda wears Red Bull kit, Watanabe’s comments suggest they’ll find it.
Tsunoda’s task is simpler to describe than to achieve: stay in the conversation long enough to be part of the 2027 reshuffle. Perform whenever the helmet goes on. Keep Honda close, keep Red Bull happy, and be ready if a seat wobbles. For a driver who’s matured impressively over the past two seasons, it’s not a bad bet. It’s just a test of patience at a time when the sport’s tectonic plates are moving again.
