Apparently not content with full factory efforts on the WEC, WRC, Dakar Rally and Super GT series, or supplying engines to countless open-wheel feeder series, Toyota is further deepening its involvement in motorsport by announcing its return to the big one: Formula 1.
Before you get too excited about a Toyota Gazoo Racing F1 team, it’s currently just in the form of a technical partnership with the Haas team. Specifically, the two outfits are set to share personnel, with Toyota aiming to give young Japanese drivers, engineers and mechanics a shot in F1.
It’ll specifically see staff from Toyota’s Gazoo Racing motorsport wing getting involved in Haas F1 test sessions, giving drivers Formula 1 experience. This could include Toyota-backed F2 driver Ritomo Miyata, whose car carries a TGR livery. It’ll also allow those in the garage to get to grips with the huge amounts of data that arise from an F1 drive, and TGR staff will be involved in the aero development and manufacturing of future Haas F1 cars.
Perhaps most enticingly to us, Toyota hopes the partnership will see Haas’ F1 experience filter down into its production cars, and “accelerate the creation of ever-better motorsports-bred cars.” Given how dedicated Toyota currently is to producing brilliant performance cars, this can only be a good thing.
Toyota’s last F1 car, the 2009 TF109
Rumours of this pairing first emerged from Hungarian outlet Formula.hu over the summer, with the two parties apparently having been in talks for over a year. At the time, it was suggested it would just be a sponsorship deal, but it seems that the partnership will immediately run a little deeper. Whether we’ll see Toyota or GR logos start to appear on Haas cars remains to be seen.
Regardless, we wouldn’t hold our breath for a full-on Toyota works entry anytime soon. The previous rumours said Toyota had no immediate interest in building a power unit, with Haas set to continue using Ferrari power, and there’s no official mention yet of anything beyond this mutually beneficial arrangement.
The Haas of Nico Hülkenberg at the 2024 British GP
Some of this cautiousness potentially results from Toyota’s previous dalliance with F1, which saw the manufacturer compete in 140 races between 2002 and 2009 and infamously not deliver a single win, despite being the largest car company in the world at the time.
Regardless, the reappearance of yet another car company in the F1 world only shows that the sport continues to go from strength to strength – and if it leads to even more brilliant Toyota road cars, then even better.
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