Yuki Tsunoda chasing coveted race seat outside F1 - report

Yuki Tsunoda's time on the F1 sidelines could soon prompt a bold change of direction, with Motorsport.com reporting that the Japanese driver is in discussions with Meyer Shank Racing over a potential IndyCar seat for the 2027 season.

Tsunoda, who spent this year serving as a test and reserve driver for Red Bull Racing after losing his race seat, is understood to be targeting the team's Honda-powered #66 entry.

The seat is currently held by Marcus Armstrong, who is set to move across to the #60 car once defending Indianapolis 500 champion Felix Rosenqvist departs at the end of the season.

The 26-year-old accumulated 111 grand prix starts since making his debut in 2021, with a career-best fourth-place finish at that year's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix standing as the high-water mark of his time in Formula 1.

With race seats in the championship remaining fiercely contested, a move to American open-wheel racing would follow a path already carved out by fellow Japanese driver Takuma Sato, who went on to win the Indianapolis 500 twice after his own F1 career came to a close.

Tsunoda is not entirely without experience of IndyCar machinery. In late 2024, ahead of the Las Vegas Grand Prix, he took part in a Honda promotional run, driving a #93 Chip Ganassi Racing entry under the guidance of six-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon. He completed two runs totalling around 30 minutes at an estimated 1.3-mile circuit near Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

"If I have an opportunity and I feel it's the right time, for sure I would love to," Tsunoda said at the time

"I like the US itself, so I don't mind living here as well. But I feel like it's not the time because I can't imagine driving at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, more than a two-hour race and we do more than 200 mph or whatever every lap. For me, it's scary. I can't imagine myself driving more than two hours and being in that car. I don't know. For now, I am not really aiming or thinking about IndyCar, but yeah, why not in the future?"

With negotiations now understood to be progressing towards a potential 2027 debut, that hypothetical future appears to be moving closer to reality.

MSR co-owner Mike Shank, when contacted for comment by Motorsport.com, struck a measured tone, neither confirming nor dismissing the possibility.

"We have not decided anything yet," he said. "We are talking to everybody in every form of motorsports that are comparable or pertinent to IndyCar. We're still vetting folks that are coming along, and looking at all kinds of options."