Tsunoda only at VCARB at Honda's request? Jordan shares story

In his podcast together with David Coulthard, Formula for Success, Eddie Jordan has shared a story about Honda putting him under pressure to sign a Japanese driver for his team. Jordan also declared that a similar situation is happening at Red Bull and VCARB with Yuki Tsunoda.

In four out of the five Grands Prix so far, Yuki Tsunoda has outperformed his teammate, Daniel Ricciardo, and was also tipped as a driver who could take over Sergio Perez's seat from 2025 onwards. Furthermore, at the moment, the Japanese driver has scored the most points out of the drivers racing for the teams fighting for P6 in the constructors' standings.

"Tsunoda is in the team he is in, because Toro Rosso, call them what you want, Red Bull as a family, they need to keep Honda happy. And that is a Honda request," Jordan said in his podcast, Race for Success. "I can promise you that’s the way it is, because that’s what happened," Jordan referred to his days as a team principal in F1.

Can a similar situation happen at Aston Martin?

Eddie Jordan believes that having Tsunoda is part of the deal, similarly how Honda wanted to swap out Heinz-Harold Frentzen for Sato: "They wanted rid of Frentzen out of my team even though he was a multiple Grand Prix winner with us and he was brilliant. And yet, the powers that Honda put on me was they wanted [Takuma] Sato in the car because they needed to have a Japanese driver. It was their prerogative, and I understood it and I took a decision."

Jordan continued: "With the money, what the engine was going to cost was about 18 million. And I’m saying to myself, is Frentzen worth 18 million and the answer clearly was no, so it was game over. I mean Sato came to the team, Frentzen said goodbye, but he was an outstanding driver."

From 2026 onwards, Honda will leave their partnership with Red Bull and join forces with Aston Martin, who unlike the Austrians, currently have two seats on the F1 grid. Adding Fernando Alonso's new contract to the equation, there is only one seat, as Lance Stroll's future is unknown. If Tsunoda continues to perform this season, then the majority owner Lawrence Stroll would like also have to make a business decision regarding Alonso's teammate.