Tsunoda set for IndyCar test with Meyer Shank as F1 door closes
Yuki Tsunoda - Photo: Red Bull Content Pool
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Yuki Tsunoda is expected to test an IndyCar for Meyer Shank Racing at Barber Motorsports Park on 26 October as he contemplates life after Formula 1.
The Japanese driver, who has close ties to Honda, is reportedly part of MSR's plans for the IndyCar evaluation test. Nearly half of the IndyCar teams are expected to bring drivers to Barber, either to evaluate them or to use them for development work.
Neither Tsunoda nor the team has confirmed he will take part but MSR co-owner Michael Shank has confirmed that neither of the team's regular drivers is expected to drive at the test.
Honda link points to a 2028 opportunity
MSR runs Honda engines, works closely with Chip Ganassi Racing and won the 2026 Indianapolis 500 with Felix Rosenqvist. Honda has backed Tsunoda throughout his career.
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However, the test at Barber will be more crucial in identifying whether Tsunoda has a chance to race in IndyCar next season. The options for 2027 are very limited in the series. Dale Coyne Racing is currently the only Honda team with seats still available. The bigger chance comes in 2028, when MSR gets a Honda factory entry, and the test would let Tsunoda put himself in the frame for it.
If he does drive at Barber, it will be Tsunoda's second time in an IndyCar. His first came in November 2024 on the Las Vegas Motor Speedway road course, at a Honda crossover event that also featured F1 and IMSA machinery. He told Road & Track at the time that the car reminded him of karting.
It's cool, it's a good car. There is no tire blanket, the brakes are using a similar carbon material, but how the brake works is quite different. It just feels a bit more like karting, like a car that you can play around more.- Yuki Tsunoda to Road & Track, November 2024
Every likely F1 route has closed
His F1 career stalled when Red Bull dropped him as a race driver at the end of 2025 and gave his seat to Isack Hadjar. Tsunoda stayed on as the team's test and reserve driver for 2026. His last F1 outings came this summer, when Hadjar broke his wrist. Liam Lawson moved up to Red Bull, and Tsunoda took Lawson's Racing Bulls seat for the Dutch, Italian and Spanish Grands Prix.
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In those three races he scored one point, for tenth place at Monza but then Lawson then returned to Racing Bulls for Baku, and Tsunoda went back to the sidelines.
There is no obvious way back. Hadjar's contract extension has already settled Red Bull Racing's line-up. At Racing Bulls, Lawson, Arvid Lindblad and F2 leader Nikola Tsolov are fighting for two seats, and GPblog has reported that Lawson is expected to stay alongside Lindblad.
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