Last week the American-based Formula 1 Team Haas announced the start of a cooperation with Japanese automotive giant, Toyota. The sudden and unexpected ‘Haas-Toyota’ move many had seen, opened the path to various theories regarding the future of the Haas F1 Team.
The combination of an F1 team yet to score their maiden podium, therefore victory with a Motorsport giant that had great success in Endurance racing and fairly underachieved in Formula 1 surely could cause another shake-up in the future.
However, does this cooperation deeply hide Toyota’s aspirations to fix the 2002-2009 Formula 1 tenure into a success, or did simply Haas’ overly better management under Ayao Komatsu struck a deal that would swing into the Kannapolis-based team in the foreseeable future?
What is known about the newly announced ‘Haas-Toyota’ alliance
The main nature of this shocking ‘Haas-Toyota’ partnership heavily relies on the technical and personnel aspects.
‘Toyota Gazoo Racing’ as the Motorsport branch of the Japanese car manufacturer will offer technical help to Haas mostly within aerodynamics and of design and production of carbon-fibre parts which would ultimately be used by the F1 team.
It is worth noting that Ferrari was completely fine with this extended collaboration of Haas with Toyota. Since their debut in 2016, Haas has been a ‘loyal customer’ of Ferrari’s gearboxes and engines.
Another key aspect is the expertise switch between brands that will offer stronger cooperation between the two sides. Toyota’s personnel will offer more technical support through the already mentioned fabrication of carbon parts and the development of ‘aerodynamics points’ which should hypothetically make Haas more competitive.
On the other hand, Haas will offer support to Toyota’s drivers, engineers, and mechanics in a much better understanding of contemporary Grand Prix racing.
Both Komatsu and Takahashi (Toyota Gazoo president) brought out an optimistic statement for the future of the two cooperating brands.
“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 development and our clear desire to further increase our competitiveness in Formula 1” – Komatsu added.
“By competing alongside Haas F1 Team at the pinnacle of motorsports, we aim to cultivate drivers, engineers, and mechanics while strengthening the capabilities of Haas F1 Team and Toyota Gazoo Racing” – Takahashi noted.
What do both sides get with the ‘Haas-Toyota’ deal?
Haas-Toyota partnership is a long-term project that has encompassed many technical and financial areas that would give both sides a more positive outcome. However, in this situation, Haas’ motives are more understandable and visible due to many factors.
Recent F1 seasons were not so keen on Haas with the team finishing last in the standings in the last 2 out of 3 seasons. Steiner’s mismanagement and reluctance of Gene Haas to ‘feed’ the team with more money were certainly one of the main reasons why the team struggled in recent years.
On the other hand, Formula 1 as the way it is currently, is always going to be the ‘Pinnacle of Motorsport’ and any brand exposure for the ‘outside’ corporations (especially car manufacturers) is a massive injection for not only brand exposure but profit itself.
Toyota, to some extent, did not have too many options on the field when it came to choosing their partner. Red Bull with its sister team, factory Mercedes, Alpine, Aston Martin, and Ferrari with Sauber on the brink of becoming an Audi factory team were all taken or limited for cooperation.
McLaren was an option and would have been helped with Toyota’s Ryo Hirakawa’s connection as McLaren’s test driver, however the competitive as it is now, any new form of partnership would just be a distraction for the Papaya team whilst in the hunt for the double title.
Haas left on its own, alone, as the team with the smallest budget and expertise, poised as a perfect partner with WEC and WRC giant in Toyota.
As stated previously, Haas has more gains from this partnership than Toyota does, or at least in the initial years, because the notion that Toyota will eventually take over Haas will persist in the minds of many.
The partnership with TGR is supposed to enhance Haas’ chances of moving up the field in the upcoming F1 Seasons. American team is set to receive its independent simulator which would mean that Maranello trips would be a foregone conclusion. Another factor that could have great implications is Haas’ first-ever ‘The Previous Cars’ program.
So-called, TPC would enable Haas to let its young drivers partake in tests with machinery contested two years before TPC itself. As an example, if Haas’ TPC starts from the 2025 season it would mean that the likes of Pietro Fittipaldi or Ferrari’s younger driver would be able to test with the 2023 Haas F1 edition.
Moreover, TPC would not only encompass the interests of young drivers but also of the engineers and mechanics to give knowledge that would eventually be used in the future as the main personnel of a team.
Toyota however, has less to gain than Haas from this ‘Haas-Toyota’ alliance.
Most notably Toyota’s mechanical and engineering staff will get an insight on how modern-day Formula 1 works enabling them to use some of the ideas for their works. Moreover, the TPC program does not include only Haas’s roster of drivers but would eventually let Toyota Gazoo Racing’s academy take their part in some way with the F1 machine on European tracks.
“They are looking for the latest F1 know-how, like skill sets,” Komatsu explained. “Which we have, but we don’t have their facilities. We don’t have the number of people, their resources.”
One of the earliest examples of Toyota’s return to single-seaters is the inclusion of Ritomo Miyata onto the F2 grid to ‘give Miyata more experience on European and Middle Eastern tracks for the future stint in the world of Endurance Racing’.
Perhaps, as time passes, the implementation of Toyota’s academy into Haas’ machinery could make anyone from the academy a viable option for a Formula 1 seat, thus even more cementing a place for Japanese talent on the grid.
Partnership or takeover
Toyota’s role in this relationship is described greatly through financial injections into Haas F1 project for the simulator, TPC program, and sponsorship deal which would give Haas some discount on mechanical products for their VF editions.
As it goes in the business, the amount of poured money often means a greater power in decision-making processes within the organization. Albeit, Toyota is denying the possibility of either producing an engine for Haas or ultimately taking over Gene Haas’ team under Toyota’s F1 revival, thoughts are that if Haas starts to deliver promising results that would slingshot them into respectable midfield, Toyota’s mind would have to change.
Motorsport behemoths such as Toyota would not want to risk buying an existing F1 team without recent results and ascension because it would lead to unnecessary spending of money. The amount of money invested in the current situation would not parallel the results on the track. Simply said, Toyota does not want to be the reason for their 2nd failure in Formula 1. Toyota does not want to rush into creating an F1 team from scratch again due to an unsuccessful first stint.
It would be reasonable to believe Toyota’s reports on not being keen on actively participating in Formula 1 in any form. That, however, depends on Ferrari’s strategic partnership with Haas which currently runs until 2028, and Haas’ results following implementation of goals set at the meeting with Toyota.
It should not be forgotten that Mercedes’ return to Formula 1 commenced in 1994 as an Ilmor’s engine supplier followed by a successful campaign with McLaren over the next decade until buying BRAWN GP and rebranding it into Mercedes in 2010.
If Toyota gradually starts to change its mindset on the F1 team’s takeover, Mercedes’ example could be Toyota’s path to redemption. Hence, 2029 would be the closest time for the start of serious conversations about Toyota taking over Haas.