Yuki Tsunoda has been out of Formula 1 since being demoted by Red Bull at the end of last season, but reports suggest there is an offer from across the pond.
The Japanese driver had been a mainstay in F1 since his debut season in 2021, driving for Red Bull’s junior team, then known as AlphaTauri.
Speculation over some time swirled as to exactly when Tsunoda may be handed a promotion to the Milton Keynes-based squad’s full team, as consistency in his performances began.
He was overlooked for the 2025 season, with Liam Lawson – who had impressed across two stand-in spells with the Faenza-based satellite outfit – given the nod alongside Max Verstappen.
But after just two races, the Kiwi was sent back to Racing Bulls, and Tsunoda was given the vote of confidence to finally make the step up.
Seven points finishes in the RB21 was not enough for Tsunoda to remain, and his initial 2025 teammate, rookie Isack Hadjar, was given the seat after a string of hugely impressive performances.
Tsunoda was handed a test and reserve role with the team instead, and in the intervening months, has been linked with seats at both Haas and Aston Martin, the latter a logical option given his ties to its engine manufacturer Honda.
And that link is what it now leading to reports from various sources that the 26-year-old is vying for the #66 Meyer Shank Racing seat, a Honda entry.
The seat is currently taken by Kiwi Marcus Armstrong, but will switch to the #60 car in 2027, upon exit of the seat’s incumbent driver Felix Rosenqvist.
‘Why not in the future?’
If Tsunoda was to take the seat, it would not be wholly against the grain of likelihood, given previous comments he made during a demo run in a Honda-powered IndyCar ahead of the Las Vegas Grand Prix two years ago.
“If I have an opportunity and I feel it’s the right time, for sure I would love to,” Tsunoda was quoted as saying, as per Motorsport.com. “I like the US itself, so I don’t mind living here as well. But I feel like it’s not the time because I can’t imagine driving at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, more than a two-hour race and we do more than 200 mph or whatever every lap.
“For me, it’s scary. I can’t imagine myself driving more than two hours and being in that car. I don’t know. For now, I am not really aiming or thinking about IndyCar, but yeah, why not in the future?”
Tsunoda may have a plethora of options available to him, as the aforementioned F1 seats to which he has been linked after still subject of various speculation.
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