Yuki Tsunoda responds to Toyota rumours after intriguing McLaren link-up

Yuki Tsunoda does not believe Toyota are lining up a move to Formula 1 despite their driver Ryo Hirakawa being signed as a McLaren reserve.

Hirakawa was announced as Alex Palou’s replacement within the McLaren setup with the Japanese driver splitting reserve driving with his ongoing WEC commitment with Toyota Gazoo Racing and the Super Formula Championship.

But Hirakawa’s compatriot, Tsunoda, does not believe that is a sign Toyota are considering a move into F1.

Yuki Tsunoda labels Toyota involvement ‘interesting’ but has no plans to leave Honda

Totoyoa and Honda are two of Japan’s biggest car companies who also have a strong racing pedigree. As to whether Tsunoda would jump ship from Honda to Toyota, the AlphaTauri driver says that is not his plan.

“I will stay with Honda whatever happens,” he told the media during the build-up to the race in Qatar. “I love Honda, I love the Honda family. I can tell they care about me a lot which I like.

“And Toyota…I didn’t know about that so we will see how it goes.”

Tsunoda has been linked with Honda since 2016 when he joined the Honda Formula Dream Project, a partnership that reportedly earns Red Bull $10 million a year.

Pressed on whether he thinks Toyota are angling for a move back into Formula 1, Tsunoda expressed his doubts, suggesting it is “just a partnership” with McLaren.

A move into F1 would be Toyota’s first since leaving the sport in 2009 and with space on the grid at a premium, the most obvious entry then would be to partner with McLaren and become a works team, similar to what Honda have done with Aston Martin.

Hirakawa’s arrival has sparked rumours that both parties are moving towards such a deal with McLaren one of few customer teams yet to agree an engine deal for 2026.

Speaking after Hirakawa’s hiring, McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said there would be an “exchange” of ideas with the Japanese company.

“There was the element of, having started a driver development programme, there’s quite a lot of people knocking on the door,” said Stella.

“We actively chase talents, but we also have interest from other talents to join the programme, which is good. It shows that we have credibility from this point of view.

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“So, we are certainly excited that Ryo and Toyota wanted to join the team in terms of the driver development programme.

“Then we took advantage to say well, let’s add him to the pool of reserve drivers. And this is not only for the driver himself.

“We are also interested in a bit of exchange of how we deal with performance, how we deal with driver development. So, we want to sort of expand a bit our horizons.”

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