Revealed: What Toyota really wants to gain from its Haas F1 partnership

Haas’ Ayao Komatsu has explained how his team’s partnership with Toyota will evolve in F1 2026, following the commencement of a title sponsorship.

Haas’ title sponsorship with Moneygram ended at the 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, with the American squad confirming Toyota Gazoo Racing has become its new title sponsor for 2026, building on its existing technical partnership.

Ayao Komatsu: Toyota’s objective is not in branding

In late 2024, Toyota’s motorsport division, Toyota Gazoo Racing, commenced a technical partnership with the Haas squad, an opportunity that granted Haas the additional resources to begin a comprehensive Testing of Previous Cars (TPC) programme during 2025.

In addition, a brand-new simulator has been commissioned to come online at the team’s Banbury facility during 2026, a resource made possible with Toyota’s involvement.

With the partnership giving Toyota a top-level test-bed for its own drivers, many of whom got the chance to drive the VF-23 during TPCs during 2025, as well as helping with training personnel, the relationship between the two sides has deepened by way of the new title sponsorship that sees Haas race with the Toyota name in its official entry.

This posits the possibility of Haas essentially slowly morphing into a works Toyota F1 team, with the Japanese manufacturer’s involvement in the sport stepping up since it last raced in F1 as an autonomous entity in 2009.

Team owner Gene Haas is known for having no desire to sell his team, a stance that was reiterated by team boss Ayao Komatsu during 2025, but sources have suggested to PlanetF1.com that the Toyota relationship could deepen further in time, to the point where it’s been suggested the Japanese company could eventually become a minor shareholder in the team.

Should Haas ever decide to make an exit from his position, the Toyota link could then offer him a clear and natural succession plan and a massive return on investment from his initial entry into the sport in 2016.

But that hypothesis, for now, is merely that. While Toyota will cement its relationship with Haas during F1 2026, Komatsu said the intention of the arrangement at present is merely about investment in human resources.

“It’s easy for many people to say that, because I think people want to say things like ‘Toyota works team’, or ‘Toyota is going to make an engine’, etc.” Komatsu told the media, including PlanetF1.com, at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, when asked about the possibility of the team evolving into a Toyota works squad.

“Toyota’s objective is not really branding; Toyota’s objective is to make us competitive, grow people, and make this team competitive together.

“So, if we accelerate that, then obviously having a title partnership means the next step.

“But, in terms of what we’re doing, it’s not like the direction changes, a step change, if you like, it’s exactly going the same direction, but it’s really nice that now we’ve got this title partnership.

“It’s been a long-term collaboration from the beginning anyway, but mainly externally, it gives people confidence, even internally as well.

“But, in terms of actually what we’re doing inside, other than the difference in the value of sponsorship, it doesn’t change a huge amount.

“We always had a long-term collaboration. Honestly, branding is not the purpose of this. It’s really trying to make the team more competitive.”

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What is Toyota’s long-term aim with Haas?

The long-term nature of the arrangement between Haas and Toyota is proving mutually beneficial after just a single year of partnership, and Komatus said he only expects this to improve even further as the two sides develop their synergy.

The arrangement has seen Haas continue to give Ferrari, its long-term technical partner as an engine and gearbox supplier, complete transparency, and Komatsu said there won’t be any toe-treading in terms of the areas of expertise between the two manufacturers.

Toyota’s reward for its close-knit collaboration with Haas, Komatsu explained, is in the fast-paced nature of the Formula 1 environment.

“Between Akio-san [Akio Toyoda, Toyota chairman] and myself, it’s totally clear that the purpose of this collaboration is really trying to grow people and, through doing that, they will make a competitive organisation,” he said.

“If you look at Formula 1 as an environment, if somebody wants to train people, or throw people into a very competitive, international environment, there’s nothing better than Formula 1.

“I think the amazing thing about this is it’s very international, incredibly competitive. In the corporate world, certain things take, let’s say, three months to develop; in Formula 1, we sort it in two weeks, right?

“So, in terms of training people, I don’t think you’ll find anything better. That’s where I think our synergy comes from. We are looking for people. Akio-san was looking for an environment where he could train and grow his own people.

“I think in the long run, for Toyota Motor Corporation, it’s not just for racing. The people they grow, train in this environment will one day, hopefully, be a senior manager or top management in TMC, with an international and competitive mindset.

“It’s just a lot more than just about, ‘Are they gonna make a PU?’, or ‘Are they gonna be the Toyota works team?’

“That’s really, really not the target. I get asked this question every time, but that’s not the case.”

In the short term, Komatsu explained, he doesn’t expect much to change during F1 2026, other than the TPC programme evolving further from its 14 days of testing during last season.

“Other than obviously the sponsorship value, I think it’s just going to be a bit more structured,” he said of how Toyota’s impact will shape the coming year.

“Even the TPC, we’ve been doing TPC, but that was the first year.

“So, next year, it’s gonna be a bit more structured in terms of the Driver Development Programme. So it’s just everything is going to be more developed, if you like.”

Komatsu also revealed that the personnel investment at Haas has seen its workforce increase rapidly since he succeeded Guenther Steiner in the role as team boss in January 2024. A staff count of 230 has increased to circa 380 in that two-year period, and Komatsu said he expects his squad to only get stronger.

“This collaboration with Toyota gets things stronger with the title partnership, that’s an amazing step,” he said.

“Nothing is going to change overnight. Everything is just a gradual step-by-step improvement.”

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