Ayao Komatsu, Akio Toyoda, Tomoya Takahashi, 2024

Toyota returns to Formula 1 in new technical collaboration with Haas

Formula 1

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The Toyota name is returning to F1 for the first time in 15 years through a new tie-up with Haas.

The world’s largest car manufacturer by volume will become an “official technical partner” to the team which lies seventh in the world championship. Toyota branding will appear on the VF-24s from next week’s United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas.

Toyota will provide “design, technical and manufacturing services” to Haas as part of a new, multi-year deal between the two. Haas says it will supply “technical expertise and commercial benefits in return.”

The new deal will not affect Haas’ current arrangement with Ferrari, who supply their power units, gearboxes and some other parts. The two companies recently extended until 2028.

Start, Bahrain, 2009
Toyota bowed out of F1 at the end of 2009
One key benefit Toyota will receive from its alliance with Haas is the opportunity to run its junior drivers in the team’s cars. Super Formula champion Ritomo Miyata, who now races in Formula 2, is among those backed by the Japanese manufacturer.

Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu said he was “hugely excited” by the announcement of the Toyota deal.

“To have a world leader in the automotive sector support and work alongside our organisation, while seeking to develop and accelerate their own technical and engineering expertise – it’s simply a partnership with obvious benefits on both sides.

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“The ability to tap into the resources and knowledge base available at Toyota Gazoo Racing, while benefiting from their technical and manufacturing processes, will be instrumental in our own development and our clear desire to further increase our competitiveness in Formula 1. In return we offer a platform for Toyota Gazoo Racing to fully utilise and subsequently advance their in-house engineering capabilities.”

Toyota previously competed in F1 between 2002 and 2009, when it ran a works teams producing its own chassis and engines. They peaked with fourth place in the 2005 championship and finished fifth in their final two seasons.

The Japanese manufacturer has been more successful elsewhere in motorsport. Toyota won the World Endurance Championship for the last five seasons in a row and won the World Rally Championship for the last three years. It also competes as an engine supplier in the Japanese Super Formula championship and has teams in NASCAR and the British Touring Car Championship.

Toyota branding on Haas’ F1 car

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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33 comments on “Toyota returns to Formula 1 in new technical collaboration with Haas”

  1. BOOOM!

  2. Wow, and just like that F1 in 2026 looks brighter than it has in decades.

    1. Thanks to the budget cap. And also, hate them or not and I do have antipathy for both, Liberty and DTS has done wonders for the series’ popularity.

  3. Very interesting news!

  4. Tiaki Porangi
    11th October 2024, 4:09

    Toyota has also joined SuperCars, with their 2026 concept car being revealed today in the build-up to the Bathurst 1000.
    I think Toyota will eventually buy Haas out once the Haas deal with Ferrari expires, and will then turn the outfit into the Toyota Works team.

    1. Jonathan Parkin
      11th October 2024, 4:51

      That didn’t work out too well for them last time. Or for Jaguar who bought Stewart

      1. Granted, it was Jaguar’s parent, Ford, who funded Stewart GP’s entry into F1 in the first place.

        1. Plus, you might say that countless wins and many championships later, that outfit has naught to complain about.

    2. Interesting yet non committal way to test the waters.

  5. So, does this mean that Dallara still couldn’t make a winning F1 car.
    They make everything under the sun that’s used for racing but can’t make a successful F1.

    1. They’ve made every winning F2, F3, Indycar and Super Formula car for ages, though.
      Dallara have won more races than everyone else in open wheelers combined over the last few decades.

      Anyway – they aren’t throwing their own money at F1, and are only involved because they are contracted to do so.

    2. Haas having the lowest operational cost cap out of all teams also doesn’t help (they outsource more stuff than other teams and have a lower cost cap as a result). They outsource as much as legally possible under the rules and Dallara isn’t the only one that Hass outsourced to.

  6. Great for F1 and Haas to have a strong partner.

    Great job by this new Haas under Komatsu so far (apart from the Zandvoort fiasco).

    The team is finally more than sum of its parts instead of being the backup artist to the Steiner and Netflix DTS show

    1. Guenther “Gazoo” Steiner would have had a nice ring to it lol

      1. Coventry Climax
        11th October 2024, 13:24

        That would have been “F Guenther Gazoo Steiner” in all likelyhood.

  7. I’m pretty confident this is the most random thing I’ll read today.

    1. Haas, Toyota, Ferrari, Miyata, Komatsu, USA, Japan, F2, Super Formula, F1, Nascar, BTCC, WRC…

      Dunno whatya talkin about

    2. If you notice this notice, you will notice that this notice is not worth noticing.

  8. So the rumors earlier this year proved truthful, after all, even if this isn’t an actual return for Toyota, but merely a technical partnership, albeit more than effectively a mere branding appearance like with Alfa Romeo.

    1. Not sure about a mere branding as the article says:

      Toyota will provide “design, technical and manufacturing services”

      branding isn’t design, technical and manufacturing normal it’s only a name on the wing. So what are they going to design electric component maybe?

      1. Branding was solely a reference to the Alfa Romeo-Sauber alliance in case you misinterpreted what I meant.

        1. Which is most of what you post

        2. @jerejj – Ah sorry I thought you were talking about this deal with Toyota.

  9. Ayao Komatsu has given this team a real second chance. A partnership with the largest manufacturer in the world is huge. It’ll be interesting to see what they can do in the coming season.

  10. Worrying news. I hope their WRC team is not affected by all of this nonsense

    1. I doubt & I don’t see how their WRC (or WEC, for that matter) operations could realistically be affected in any way.

      1. Just wondering how much this’ll cost Toyota and if they are willing to fund three different top-tier motor sport projects at the same time.

  11. Since the benefit for Toyota (placing a driver) might be a negative for Haas, it would be better if it came with enough funding to field three cars. That could help a number of teams who seem to have trouble choosing between fielding a full team or one with a pay driver (Haas, Williams, Sauber, RB, Aston Martin, Red Bull(!)).

    1. I’m not sure what you’re getting at. F1 only allows two car teams.

      1. Yep. Only two cars max per team.

    2. Toyota has a development driver (Ryo Hirokawa) in an F1 team – but with McLaren. He is one of McLaren’s reserve drivers.

      Toyota were considering partnernering with them late last year but things didn’t work out. They then explored a deal with Haas and it happened.

  12. I’m curious what this could mean for Ferrari. They’ve now lost both Sauber and Haas as their feeder teams for testing out drivers. Given the technical partnership with Haas, I presume that also acted as a feeder for some engineering talent too. Not only that, but close relationships with other teams can help in the politics of F1’s piranha club, and Ferrari have lost some influence here too. With Alpine apparently switching to Mercedes engines, it leaves Ferrari quite isolated.

    1. Yes, it means they will have to loan their junior drivers to other teams, with no guarantee they’re getting them back, since ferrari have a history of not giving a chance to young drivers immediately on the main team, unlike mercedes is doing now with antonelli, or mclaren back in 2007 with hamilton; I think red bull also never did that, cause they always had toro rosso to check out driver’s performance before promoting them to the main team, even with the most promising drivers, as in vettel, ricciardo, verstappen.

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