Stay informed on all the biggest stories in Formula One. Sign up here to receive the Prime Tire newsletter in your inbox every Monday and Friday.
Haas announced a new Formula One technical partnership with Toyota on Wednesday, giving the world’s largest automaker its first presence in the sport since 2009.
Yet it is not the precursor to Toyota making a fully-fledged F1 return, either through building its own power unit or forming a team, nor will it compromise Haas’ existing partnership with Ferrari.
Since joining the grid in 2016, Haas has enjoyed close technical ties to Ferrari, which supplies the American team with the engine, gearbox and suspension for its car.
But through the deal with Toyota, it will also get additional technical and manufacturing input for its car, as well as support for its simulator program and the ability to begin private F1 test running with old cars.
“Our partnership with Toyota, just to be clear, it’s not to replace the Ferrari partnership,” Ayao Komatsu, the Haas team principal, said on Friday following the announcement.
“The Ferrari-Haas partnership is the foundation, and it’s always going to be the foundation. This partnership is not to take away from it, but actually enhance that fundamental partnership with Ferrari.”
How Toyota and Haas will help each other
The agreement between Haas and Toyota’s racing division, Toyota Gazoo Racing (TGR), which races in the World Endurance Championship and the World Rally Championship, is designed to be a mutually beneficial collaboration.
Haas will be able to tap into Toyota’s resources and expertise, serving as a boost for the smallest team on the grid. Toyota can gain fresh F1 knowledge and also benefit from the marketing boom that the sport is currently enjoying. Branding for Toyota Gazoo Racing will feature on the Haas cars as of the next race, the United States Grand Prix, in Austin, Texas.
“They are looking for the latest F1 know-how and skillset, which we have,” Komatsu said. “But we don’t have their facilities, we don’t have the number of people and their resources. That is how we are tapping into each other’s expertise, and learning with each other.”
The announcement stated Toyota would provide Haas with “design, technical and manufacturing services.” One example that Komatsu and Gazoo Racing project manager Masaya Kaji cited was an enhanced simulator program, an area where Toyota has existing knowledge and experience. It saves Haas both the time and money of trying to upscale its own program.
“Our simulator is now for WEC and the customer program, but our simulator engineering is top-level,” Kaji said. “We can supply a good service, and we can learn more through this project about F1.”
The news release announcing the partnership quoted Gazoo Racing president Tomoya Takahashi, who said it could “cultivate drivers, engineers, and mechanics.” This will come from a private testing program known as TPC, which the majority of F1 teams conduct. Until now, Haas has never had the resources to have its own private running outside of formal F1 events.
“TPC is very important in terms of training of personnel,” Komatsu said, referring to both drivers, and the mechanics and engineers on the team. Through this program, Toyota sees a way to give its racing staff some F1 exposure and experience, although there are no plans at present to embed Toyota staff within the Haas race team.
Keeping the Ferrari partnership as the ‘foundation’
Komatsu was clear that the agreement with Toyota would have no bearing on the Ferrari relationship, which was extended to the end of 2028 in July. When talks with Toyota started earlier this year, he ensured total clarity and transparency with Ferrari, calling it the “foundation” of the Haas team.
“If there was any threat that this Toyota-Haas alliance would be a threat to them, that was not going to work,” Komatsu said. “So I made sure that is not the case.” He added that Toyota was ‘totally on board from day one” about keeping the existing technical partnerships in place.
The Haas aerodynamic group will continue to base in Maranello, Ferrari’s home in Italy, and the team will still use Ferrari’s wind tunnel. Komatsu also said the new partnership would “co-exist” with Haas’ existing relationship with Dallara, which has built the team’s chassis since its debut, and that it would discuss how the agreements will work together soon.
“We will start designing some other carbon composite parts by ourselves, and then also start some testing and simulator work, and some other areas that will contribute to the performance of the car,” Komatsu said. “Where we house them exactly, whether it’s Maranello or the UK, we’ll define in the future. It’s not to replace what we have with Ferrari.”
Komatsu said it was an “open possibility” that a Toyota-backed driver could take up a reserve role at Haas next year. However, he hadn’t discussed the matter with Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur. Ferrari has typically loaned Haas its reserves each season and recently made Oliver Bearman — who will race for Haas next year — available when Kevin Magnussen was banned for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
“Regardless if it’s a Toyota driver or non-Toyota driver, we’ll always be taking the best driver for the sporting result,” Komatsu said. “The reserve driver will be the same. We haven’t made any decisions, but we’re not ruling anything out either. It’s really based on the competence of the driver.”
Toyota not considering a full F1 return
Toyota’s most recent F1 foray proved to be an expensive failure. Between 2002 and 2009, it had one of the biggest budgets on the grid but failed to win a race and never finished higher than fourth in the championship. When the global financial crisis gripped toward the end of the 2010s, it pulled the plug on its F1 program and turned its focus to sports car racing.
F1’s shift toward greater power unit electrification and the use of sustainable fuels from 2026 has been attractive to manufacturers, bringing Honda back to the grid and prompting Audi to enter the sport for the first time. But Toyota is not giving thought to its own engine program or returning to team ownership.
“Regarding the power unit, ultimately, we have no plan to enter power unit supply at this moment,” Kaji said. He added there was “no plan to have a team in Formula One,” and that its collaboration with Haas was the “best option” to be involved in the sport. “We can strengthen the team together.”
For Komatsu, who has been at the helm of Haas since January, when team owner Gene Haas opted against renewing Guenther Steiner’s contract, the Toyota deal was designed to help the team realize its on-track ambitions. It is currently on course for its best season since 2018 as it chases sixth place in the championship, but it has yet to break out of F1’s midfield.
Komatsu said it took little effort to convince Gene Haas of the deal’s merits, calling it a “no-brainer.”
“There are many areas (where) we can work together, and TGR can help us to make us a more competitive Formula One team,” Komatsu said. “It’s really a requirement, if you like, to make us more competitive as a Formula One team.”
Top photo: ANDREJ ISAKOVIC/AFP via Getty Images
