[Saba Sports News] Scott Mitchell-Malm, a journalist for THE RACE, revealed on a recent podcast that the Haas F1 Team intended to approach Yuki Tsunoda back in 2025, but the move was directly blocked by Helmut Marko, causing the potential transfer to fall through.
According to Scott, Marko intervened to preserve maximum flexibility for Red Bull’s driver lineup at the time. As a result, the potential deal was nipped in the bud at an early stage.
However, he also predicted that Haas could offer Tsunoda another opportunity in 2027. Tsunoda has strong ties to Honda, while Haas’s title sponsor and technical partner is Toyota. Although the two Japanese manufacturers are rivals, this is not expected to be an obstacle to a potential move. Toyota may see this as a chance to establish Tsunoda as a flagship figure in its young Japanese driver development program. From this perspective, Tsunoda joining Haas would be a logical and reasonable choice.
In our view, Haas’s approach to Tsunoda in 2025 was genuine, yet the move ultimately failed due to Red Bull’s intervention and Tsunoda’s contractual constraints. This incident reflects the complex interplay between team autonomy, manufacturer relationships, and driver contracts within the F1 paddock.