F1 News: Haas Confirms What Will Happen With Ferrari as Toyota Partnership Confirmed

Alex Harrington | 5 Hours Ago

Nov 17, 2023; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Haas F1 driver Kevin Magnussen of Denmark (20) during free practice at Las Vegas Strip Circuit. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images / Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

The Haas F1 Team has taken a huge step toward reinforcing its future competitiveness by announcing a new technical collaboration with Toyota Gazoo Racing. This partnership introduces fresh opportunities and resources, focusing on manufacturing parts and establishing a simulator while concurrently maintaining its long-standing partnership with Ferrari.

This strategy, openly articulated by Haas F1 Team Principal Ayao Komatsu, has confirmed the non-replacement nature of the collaboration, via Racer.

"Our partnership with Toyota is not to replace our Ferrari partnership. The Ferrari-Haas partnership is the foundation, and it is always going to be the foundation."

Since joining the Formula 1 grid in 2016, Haas has relied heavily on its technical collaboration with Ferrari, which is set to continue unchanged. The existing Ferrari partnership, providing crucial support such as power units and gearboxes, is considered crucial for Haas's operations.

“We are going to continue to use the Maranello wind tunnel, and regarding our own gearbox, that is not what we are thinking. As long as regulations permit, we will buy the gearbox from Ferrari.”

The confirmation of the Toyota partnership comes as an improvement to an already established foundation. Toyota Gazoo Racing, the motorsport arm of Toyota, has a history in major racing disciplines, most notably the World Endurance and World Rally Championships. After a decade and a half away from Formula 1, Toyota returns with a new approach—partnering with Haas instead of operating as a standalone team, a model reflecting financial and structural efficiency.

Complementing Ferrari's role, Toyota will primarily focus on designing certain carbon composite parts alongside simulation work, crucially setting up a simulator at Haas’s UK base in Banbury. This development is expected to ramp up Haas’s capabilities significantly exceeding the limited access they currently have to Ferrari’s simulator at Maranello.

A collaborative stance is evident in what Komatsu has told the media.

"What we have with Ferrari, what we get from Ferrari, is amazing... But areas Toyota can help us is outside of that."

Despite the multifaceted nature of the Toyota collaboration, transparency has remained at the forefront of the team's dealings, especially with Ferrari.

"We’ve been transparent with Ferrari management from the early stage of these discussions," he continued. “I made sure that that is not the case. And then through Kaji-san, Toyota was totally on board and clear from day one.”

Dallara Automobili, responsible for building Haas's chassis since its entry into Formula 1, will continue its role, albeit sharing responsibilities with Toyota. Komatsu confirmed that “it will co-exist, it is not replacing one with the other.”

Another dimension of the collaboration involves fostering new talent, with plans for Toyota to leverage Haas’s testing programs to develop young drivers, notably from Japan, thereby contributing to the broader motorsport talent pool. This initiative aligns with Toyota's aim to nurture engineers and mechanics, fostering a cycle of innovation and discovery across disciplines.

The financial underpinnings of this partnership cannot be understated. Valued at tens of millions of dollars annually, the deal will alleviate Haas's resource constraints.