Ayao Komatsu admits Haas ‘survival’ problem Toyota F1 tie-up should help to remove

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Haas have signed a technical partnership with Toyota to bring the world’s largest car company back to F1, and Ayao Komatsu admits he hopes it helps with a major issue.

Toyota has not had any involvement with Formula 1 since the end of the 2009 season when chairman Akio Toyoda pulled the plug amid the global financial depression. Toyoda believes it has always been ‘inhibiting’ for Toyota to not have a presence in F1 for drivers since then.

But, starting from the United States Grand Prix on October 20, the Haas cars will now carry Toyota branding as part of their technical partnership. Toyota will even offer Haas technical and commercial expertise, knowledge and resources and forge a route for Japanese drivers.

Ayao Komatsu is desperate for Toyota to help Haas F1 Team begin a TPC programme

Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu is even desperate for the Formula 1 team’s technical link-up with Toyota to help the American outfit start a Testing of Previous Cars programme (TPC). Currently, Haas do not have a TPC team and are always in ‘survival’ mode as a result of that.

The TPC programme allows F1 teams to drive modern Formula 1 cars in private tests as long as the cars are at least two years old. Each part fitted to a TPC car must have also been used in either an official test session or a Grand Prix event to avoid any overlaps with current cars.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Haas F1 Team from team principal to Ferrari and Toyota partnerships

Komatsu believes starting a TPC programme will be huge for Haas as the extra staff required for it will take the pressure off of their limited numbers. Haas are one of the smallest teams in F1, but the collaboration will see Toyota juniors drive TPC F1 cars that Haas staff will operate.

“TPC is very important in terms of training our personnel,” Komatsu said, via RaceFans. “We have just over 300 people. We have no contingency in personnel.

“So, if one race engineer or one performance engineer decides to leave or is having a problem and not able to attend a race, we are really struggling.

“We’re on the limit all the time. In order to improve the organisation, you cannot be at the kind of survival stage as a baseline. We’ve got to build up the organisation. So, through TPC, we can start training our engineers, our mechanics [and] having back-up people.”

Haas expanding will help with three triple-headers and five double-headers in 2026

Komatsu is also aware of the extra challenge from building up Haas with a TPC team without it breaching F1’s cost cap. While the TPC sits outside the cost cap rules, the staff for a TPC crew can only cross over with a race team so much before they become part of the cost cap.

But the Haas boss will welcome that extra challenge if Toyota’s support with beginning their TPC programme ensures Komatsu can move their staff around and fashion a more forgiving atmosphere. Having a bigger team will also be helpful with F1 amid its longest-ever season.

There are 24 Grand Prix and six F1 Sprint events on the calendar this year, and there will be again in 2026. The 2026 calendar even boasts three triple-headers and five double-headers, with Formula 1 only staging races in Miami, Canada, Azerbaijan, Singapore and Brazil alone.