Komatsu coy on Tsunoda for 2027 as Haas eyes a 2026 shop window
Ayao Komatsu isn’t biting. Ask the Haas team boss if he’d fancy Yuki Tsunoda in 2027 and he’ll park it immediately in the same place as every other medium‑term driver rumour: behind the big, flashing sign that reads “2026 first.”
Tsunoda, demoted to Red Bull reserve for next season after a fraught run alongside Max Verstappen in 2025, is back on the market in spirit if not on paper. He stepped into the senior Red Bull seat mid‑season last year, replacing Liam Lawson ahead of Suzuka, scored points seven times across 22 starts and peaked with sixth in Baku. It wasn’t enough to keep him there. Isack Hadjar gets the nod for 2026 after an eye‑catching rookie campaign with Racing Bulls.
Haas, meanwhile, has its hands full. The Ferrari‑powered outfit of 2025 — running Esteban Ocon and rookie Oliver Bearman — will morph into the TGR Haas F1 Team next year under a deepening technical tie‑up with Toyota. That deal is already shaping the team’s direction and, inevitably, the kind of drivers who might fit.
On Tsunoda, Komatsu kept it deliberately wide: it’s not 2027 yet, and it’s not his driver. “We’ve got to be competitive in ’26,” was the headline point. New regulations are coming, drivers are waiting to see who nails them, and the music for 2027 won’t start until the first notes of ’26 are played. Translation: deliver a quick car next year and the phones will ring on their own.
There’s logic there. The 2025 field is settled — Haas’s Ocon/Bearman pairing is locked in per the current championship entry — but you can already see the driver market coiling for 2027. Fresh rules tend to reset pecking orders and embolden moves. Teams want leverage. Drivers want proof. If Haas hits in 2026, it can set its price with talent.
That said, there’s an elephant — or rather a pair of Japanese giants — standing in the middle of any Tsunoda-to-Haas conversation. Yuki has been a Honda man since day one. Haas is stepping into Toyota’s orbit from 2026. Those logos don’t typically mix. Toyota’s F1 return in a technical capacity is a big deal for the American squad; it’s also the sort of partnership that tends to come with preferences. None of that makes a Tsunoda deal impossible, but it certainly adds friction.
It’s part of why, last year, whispers pushed him toward Aston Martin instead — the team that’s partnered with Honda from 2026 onward. That path didn’t open either, with Aston bringing in Jak Crawford as its third driver for the new rules cycle. So Tsunoda sits in a strange spot: high‑value experience, a lively reputation for racecraft, and a season on the sideline as Red Bull’s reserve while the market resets.
He’s made no secret of how that felt at the time. After Abu Dhabi, the 25‑year‑old admitted he was disappointed — and, in his words, “p*ssed off” — at Red Bull’s call, while also making clear he’d been contractually boxed in during talks for 2026. Interest from outside was there, he said, but the Red Bull agreement didn’t allow him to properly explore it.
So what’s the sell to Haas? Simple: upside. For all the rough edges of 2025, Tsunoda delivered solid points and a healthy turn of speed against the highest benchmark in the business. He’s tough in traffic, aggressive without being reckless these days, and brings a fanbase. But the sell works both ways. Haas needs to prove it’s more than a midfield trier. The Toyota alignment suggests ambition; the real currency will be lap time under the 2026 rules.
In the meantime, Ocon and Bearman have their own case to make. The pair were tightly matched through 2025, and both are understood to be under contract at least to the end of 2026. If one catches fire when the new regs land, Haas might not feel the need to look far. If not, 2027 becomes open season — and Tsunoda, assuming he’s free of Red Bull obligations by then, will be one of the more intriguing names out there.
Komatsu’s stance isn’t indecision; it’s leverage management. Keep options open, keep focus internal, and let performance do the talking. For Tsunoda, the mission is just as clear: stay sharp, be visible, and be ready when the first competitive seat for 2027 moves into view. Because once 2026 shows its hand, the market will move fast — and the teams that got it right won’t have to chase drivers. The drivers will chase them.
