In 2026, seven years of cooperation between Honda and Red Bull Racing will end and Japanese motorists will supply power units to the Aston Martin team. And the cars of Toro Rosso, Red Bull’s ‘junior team’, already had Japanese engines in 2018.
Yuki Tsunoda has received financial support from Honda from the start of his career and does not rule out that he will have to say goodbye to Visa RB due to upcoming changes. The Japanese driver made his Formula 1 debut with AlphaTauri in 2021 and is now in his fourth season with the Faenza team, which has changed its name to Visa RB.
Koiji Watanabe, president of Honda Racing Corporation, has made it clear in recent interviews that they continue to monitor the career of Tsunoda, who once graduated from the Honda Racing School, but this does not guarantee Yuki a continuation of his career in Formula 1 after the end of the Japanese company’s cooperation with Red Bull.
Tsunoda is willing to admit that his future largely depends on whether a vacancy arises at Aston Martin.
“I have been working with Honda since I was very young, and I was able to achieve what they wanted from me,” believes Yuki. – I became a Formula 1 driver, which I would not have been able to do without their support. We have a special relationship and I think the people who work at this company are very nice. However, the situation on the pilot market is a slightly different story.
Ultimately, if Honda wants to support me in 2026, we will need a vacancy at Aston Martin. Then there’s a good chance they want me to play for this team. But such an opportunity can only arise if a place becomes available.
Let’s see how everything turns out. If there is no place at Aston Martin, you will have to think about some other options. Either this is a continuation of the collaboration with Red Bull, which I will be happy with, or a different decision. But the ties with Honda will continue and I have no doubt that our partnership will resume at some point in the future, in some form or another.”
In any case, Visa RB has not yet made a decision about the composition for next season, but vacancies may also become available at other teams. After the first six stages of the championship, Yuki Tsunoda sits in 10th place in the individual standings, including points for a 7th place finish at the Miami Grand Prix.
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
