{"id":413233,"date":"2026-01-14T22:20:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T22:20:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/413233\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T22:20:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T22:20:11","slug":"the-complication-behind-yuki-tsunodas-unresolved-f1-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/413233\/","title":{"rendered":"The complication behind Yuki Tsunoda\u2019s unresolved F1 future"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Yuki Tsunoda\u2019s future remains unresolved as he is yet to sign a new F1 contract for 2026 amid negotiations between Honda and Red Bull.<\/p>\n<p>After being dropped from Red Bull\u2019s 2026 driver line-up, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.crash.net\/f1\/racer\/975014\/yuki-tsunoda\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Tsunoda <\/a>was named as the team\u2019s test and reserve driver for the upcoming F1 season. However, a complication has emerged.<\/p>\n<p>Tsunoda is a Honda backed driver but the Japanese manufacturer will supply Aston Martin from 2026 after ending a partnership with Red Bull, who instead will use their own power units in collaboration with Ford.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Honda Racing Corporation President Koji Watanabe has revealed that the 25-year-old Japanese driver\u2019s future with the manufacturer has been left in the balance as a result.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRegarding this year\u2019s contract with Tsunoda, negotiations are ongoing, so no specific agreement has been finalised yet,\u201d Watanabe confirmed.<\/p>\n<p> Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n<p> Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis will be discussed in future talks.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrom Honda\u2019s perspective, there\u2019s no problem. The crucial point is how Ford, or rather Red Bull, views the situation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDepending on the terms Red Bull proposes, the scope within which Honda can utilise Tsunoda will change\u2026 I believe that scenario is possible.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe negotiations are not with Tsunoda himself, but with Red Bull.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Tsunoda&#8217;s F1 journey with Honda<\/p>\n<p>Tsunoda has been part of the Honda Formula Dream Project since making his single-seater debut in 2016. His Honda backing saw him join the Red Bull Junior Team in 2019 before debuting in F1 with AlphaTauri (now Racing Bulls) in 2021.<\/p>\n<p> Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n<p> Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n<p>Tsunoda remained with Red Bull\u2019s sister team until he was promoted to the senior squad three races into the 2025 season, replacing the underperforming <a href=\"https:\/\/www.crash.net\/f1\/racer\/1035138\/liam-lawson\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Liam Lawson<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>But Tsunoda endured a nightmare campaign alongside <a href=\"https:\/\/www.crash.net\/f1\/racer\/852\/max-verstappen\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Max Verstappen<\/a> and would himself be demoted at the end of the year.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crash.net\/f1\/racer\/1043643\/isack-hadjar\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Isack Hadjar<\/a> has graduated from Racing Bulls to race for Red Bull in 2026.<\/p>\n<p>Watanabe downplayed the prospect of a Red Bull-like arrangement with Aston Martin for Honda\u2019s junior drivers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are no such plans as yet,\u201d he added. \u201cI expect we will continue to coordinate various programmes with Aston Martin, but at this point there is nothing we have agreed upon that says, \u2018Let\u2019s do this right now\u2019.<\/p>\n<p> Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n<p> Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTherefore, at this point, we will continue to nurture drivers up to F2 within the HFDP, Honda\u2019s own programme, and if any drivers emerge who are capable of driving in F1, we will recommend them to Aston Martin.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Multiple Formula 2 race-winner and 2025 championship runner-up Jak Crawford currently serves as Aston Martin\u2019s reserve driver.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Subscribe to our F1 Newsletter<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Yuki Tsunoda\u2019s future remains unresolved as he is yet to sign a new F1 contract for 2026 amid&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":413234,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[572],"tags":[64,63,817,914,806,805,803,804,918,85,5077],"class_list":{"0":"post-413233","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-motosport","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-f1","11":"tag-honda","12":"tag-motor","13":"tag-motor-sports","14":"tag-motosport","15":"tag-motosports","16":"tag-red-bull","17":"tag-sports","18":"tag-yuki-tsunoda"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413233","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=413233"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413233\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/413234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=413233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=413233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=413233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}