Simon Galloway/Motorsport Images
Haas enters F1 technical partnership with Toyota
Haas has announced a technical partnership with Toyota’s motorsport division through which it will receive design and manufacturing support for the Formula 1 team.
Toyota Gazoo Racing is the motorsport competition and research and development division of Toyota, and currently competes in the World Endurance Championship and World Rally Championship, but has not been involved in F1 since the end of the 2009 season. Toyota will become the official technical partner to Haas, with the team offering technical expertise and commercial benefits in return.
Team principal Ayao Komatsu has been working on the partnership with Toyota Gazoo Racing for a number of months and said it comes with the support of current partner Ferrari.
“I’m hugely excited that MoneyGram Haas F1 Team and Toyota Gazoo Racing have come together to enter into this technical partnership,” Komatsu said. “To have a world leader in the automotive sector support and work alongside our organization, while seeking to develop and accelerate their own technical and engineering expertise – it’s simply a partnership with obvious benefits on both sides.
Toyota bowed out of F1 in 2009 (above), but has remained busy in the WEC and WRC. Motorsport Images
“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 utilize and subsequently advance their in-house engineering capabilities.
“I’m naturally pleased that we’ve had the support of the likes of Formula 1 and our long-term partner, Scuderia Ferrari – who we announced our further continuation with earlier in the season, in the formation of this new technical partnership – designed to achieve continued success in our Formula 1 endeavors.
“Together with Gene Haas, I’d specifically like to thank Stefano Domenicali and Fred Vasseur on that front, and with Toyota I’d like to thank Akio Toyoda (Chairman – Toyota Motor Corporation), Tomoya Takahashi (President – Gazoo Racing Company) and Masaya Kaji (Project Manager – Gazoo Racing Company). Everyone at MoneyGram Haas F1 Team is looking forward to the collaborative results of this new relationship, we can’t wait to get started and fulfill our combined ambitions.”
Toyota Gazoo Racing branding will appear on the Haas cars from the upcoming United States Grand Prix onwards, representing what the team describes as a “new and dynamic collaborative relationship”. As the partnership begins, Takahashi says there will be an impact on the way Toyota can develop its personnel too.
“By competing alongside MoneyGram Haas F1 Team at the pinnacle of motorsports, we aim to cultivate drivers, engineers, and mechanics while strengthening the capabilities of MoneyGram Haas F1 Team and Toyota Gazoo Racing, and we desire to contribute to motorsports and the automotive industry.” Takahashi said.
Haas will continue to have a technical partnership with Ferrari, having extended that deal until the end of the 2028 season back in July.
Chris Medland
While studying Sports Journalism at the University of Central Lancashire, Chris managed to talk his way into working at the British Grand Prix in 2008 and was retained for three years before joining ESPN F1 as Assistant Editor. After three further years at ESPN, a spell as F1 Editor at Crash Media Group was followed by the major task of launching F1i.com’s English-language website and running it as Editor. Present at every race since the start of 2014, he has continued building his freelance portfolio, working with international titles. As well as writing for RACER, his broadcast work includes television appearances on F1 TV and as a presenter and reporter on North America's live radio coverage on SiriusXM.
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