Haas has been fighting a losing battle for a lot of its recent history in Formula 1. COVID in particular hit the team hard, and after it turned to pay drivers, the narrative formed that this was a team on the verge of going out of business.
Financially, it was never in trouble. Owner Gene Haas made sure of that, but he did retain what could be described as an extremely measured approach when it came to the money he was putting into the team. That much was made clear when he replaced Guenther Steiner with Ayao Komatsu and told the new team principal that if he saw value and a return in terms of improved performance, he would increase his investment.
Haas felt he was already giving the team what it needed to do better than it was, and in 2024 that has shown to be a well-founded assumption. Whether fortunes were on course to improve regardless of the team principal switch will never be known, but the car developed for this year is a clear step forward, and that momentum has continued ever since Komatsu took over responsibility.
But some things take longer than others. A new motorhome, for example, has been signed off that is currently being prepared for the start of the European season in 2025. There could even be a new factory in the future if the right site can be found. But many of those projects have been green-lit because of the on-track performance.
Today’s announcement that Toyota will become a technical partner is designed to ensure that performance continues to trend in the right direction.
Toyota – through its motorsport competition and research and development division called Toyota Gazoo Racing – can provide Haas with a shortcut at this stage of the team’s evolution.
Speaking to Komatsu as the partnership has been discussed and finalized, the team principal acknowledges where Haas is lacking compared to its competitors. There are no small teams on the F1 grid anymore, but Haas is the smallest in terms of personnel, and that means it is limited in terms of its resources.
It’s not for a lack of finance, but when you only have so many people available to do the work, you have the infrastructure to match. Haas and Komatsu both want to expand, but to hire the right people, invest in the equipment and increase all of those technical capabilities can take a number of years.
As an example, just look at Aston Martin and how long it was between breaking ground on its factory – in September 2021 – and the fact it is still to complete the entire project, plus the wait it faced for some of the key technical hires it made, and you can see the timeline is not weeks.
But in Toyota, Haas has a way of fast-tracking many areas of its growth.
Toyota might not be in F1 anymore, but it still has an F1-level technical facility that serves as the base for its WEC Hypercar program and can be put to good use for Haas. JEP/Motorsport Images
There doesn’t need to be a major investment in hardware because Toyota already has world class facilities for its motorsport department. Capital expenditure can be planned more effectively without the need to rush through certain items, and fewer personnel need to be hired because of the expertise already in place from the Japanese automotive giant.
The agreement focuses on Toyota’s ability to provide design, technical and manufacturing services, while Haas has the most relevant and up-to-date F1 experience from a technical point of view, as well as the platform to exploit commercially.
Over its time in F1 so far, a significant portion of the Haas car has been designed and manufactured by Dallara in Italy, but the team has taken on more responsibility as it has chased a more efficient structure. And it’s on that front – rather than from a powertrain point of view – that Toyota can stake a claim to produce high-quality components within a short timeframe.
Ferrari will remain the technical partner supplying Haas with its power units until at least the end of the 2028 season – a recently-announced extension that came with the Scuderia’s knowledge of the future plans with Toyota – and at this stage there are no indicators that Toyota would be interesting in expanding its involvement to involve engine technology.
“Vehicle development” is a term that came up from Gazoo Racing Company president Tomoya Takahashi; a catch-all phrase that could be as broad or as narrow as required moving forward.
But from Toyota’s point of view, partnering with Haas is a way back into the fold where it can expand its knowledge and experience within F1. Whether that is solely to help train its personnel and improve its understanding of the technologies involved – areas that can benefit other areas of the business – or if that evolves into a greater commitment in future remains to be seen. Either way, it would be foolish to think it’s going into this partnership with its eyes closed to the possibilities.
For now, there’s an existing team that has managed to put itself in the frame to finish as high as sixth in the F1 constructors’ championship this year, despite its size. Bulking up with Toyota’s support gives Haas the ability to take on many more projects – both related to future cars, and other aspects such as testing programs – in the short term.
The 2026 regulations are all-but-finalized and teams can start aerodynamic work in a little over two months’ time. The impact of the Toyota partnership will be felt even before that.
The challenge for Komatsu now will be ensuring the seamless integration of the two organizations to ensure there’s not a drop-off in performance before the benefits are felt, but Toyota can certainly provide Haas with greater capacity as it tackles that new generation of car in a way that wasn’t possible by simply investing in its own infrastructure.
