New TPC program can add strength in depth for Haas – Komatsu

Being able to run a testing program using an old Formula 1 car will allow Haas to add strength in depth with its personnel, team principal Ayao Komatsu says.

Haas has entered into a technical partnership with Toyota Gazoo Racing where the American team will receive manufacturing support and include the establishment of a new simulator. Part of the agreement will also have Toyota personnel helping Haas run a Testing of Previous Car (TPC) program, that Komatsu says will have a big impact on the team as a whole.

“TPC is very important in terms of training personnel,” Komatsu said. “We have just over 300 people, we have no contingency in personnel, so if lets say one race engineer, one performance engineer decides to leave or has a program not to attend a race then we are really struggling.

“We are on the limit all the time, and in order to improve the organization you cannot be at that kind of survival stage as a baseline. We’ve got to build up our organization, so through TPC we can start training our engineers, our mechanics, and having back-up people there.

“Of course the budget cap makes it more complicated in a way that we’re going to do it as a timesheet, so people dealing with heritage – i.e. TPC – is outside the cap, but many of those people have to cross over to the race team and beyond a certain percentage we have to include them in the budget cap.

“So that detail we need to do correctly, but in terms of building up an organization, having a contingency, having a capacity, younger people, for me TPC is the best environment.”

Toyota young drivers will be involved in driving during TPC running, but at this stage Komatsu does not envisage personnel from Toyota Gazoo Racing crossing over onto the race team itself.

“It’s not because we don’t want to. Whoever’s got the right personnel, we’ll put in the race team. You may or may not know certain senior recruitment (positions) in the race team have been really (difficult to fill). If say TGR have a person who fits that profile, I’d have taken him or her straight away. But at the moment they haven’t. So we are not taking any TGR personnel for the race team but that’s not because that’s the philosophy, we just take whoever’s the best fit for the job.

“As for TPC, again, to do it by ourselves takes a lot of investment. But TGR is supporting that hugely. They have a desire to develop their young drivers in the program to gain mileage. Their requirement and our requirement fits together.

“In the clear sense, if we wanted to do 20 days of TPC next year, we can. Whether we want to do 20 days or not is another matter. We have to be sustainable, we’ve got to move in a manner that is still efficient and focused. It’s not about number of days, never. We are going to come up with a proper program and scheduling and then do whatever we are required to do.

“To do a TPC program we are employing some people as Haas F1 Team personnel, but TGR will be providing some personnel as well. So it will be a completely collaborative mixture and effort, which is what we need.”