The Haas Formula 1 team has confirmed that it will partner with rally and endurance racing powerhouse Toyota Gazoo Racing under a multi-year technical partnership.
The long-rumoured agreement will see Toyota provide design, technical and manufacturing services to Haas. The F1 team’s announcement of the tie-up said that it would also ‘offer technical expertise and commercial benefits’ in return.
Toyota hopes the agreement will open a pathway for its young engineers and drivers to access F1. Toyota Gazoo Racing engineers and mechanics will take part in the team’s aerodynamic and track testing work. They will also help to design and manufacture carbon fibre parts.
Haas is a multinational F1 operation, with facilities in Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States. Its Italian design office in Maranello is tied to its status as a Ferrari power unit customer; Haas conducts its wind tunnel aero testing from Ferrari’s in-house facility. Its Banbury base in the UK houses its operational functions, such as vehicle performance management, control systems work, logistics and race support. Kannapolis in North Carolina is home to the team’s marketing, accounting and administration activities.
‘I’m hugely excited that Haas F1 Team and Toyota Gazoo Racing have come together to enter into this technical partnership,’ said Haas F1 team principal Ayao Komatsu. ‘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.
‘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 ran a works F1 team from Cologne – now the site of factory WEC and WRC efforts – from 2002 to 2009. It remained involved in the championship after that as a background player, providing McLaren with access to its wind tunnel until the British team built a new one in-house last year. Haas will not use Toyota’s wind tunnel under the new partnership, with the team confirming it will continue to use Ferrari’s facility only.
‘We are pleased to announce that Haas F1 Team and Toyota Gazoo Racing have concluded a basic agreement to enter a technical partnership such as Haas vehicle development,’ said Tomoya Takahashi, president of Gazoo Racing Company. ‘We would like to express our gratitude to Mr. Gene Haas, Mr. Ayao Komatsu, Mr. Stefano Domenicali (CEO – Formula 1), Mr. Fred Vasseur (team principal – Scuderia Ferrari), and all our existing partners of the team for their exceptional cooperation and understanding in this collaboration.
‘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, and we desire to contribute to motorsports and the automotive industry.’
Despite the new Toyota tie-up, Haas will remain a Ferrari power unit customer until the end of 2028, taking it through the transition into the new technical regulations which arrive after next year.
