Toyota has ‘definitely changed’ its attitude towards Formula 1 return after 2009 exit

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When Toyota left Formula 1 in 2009 it was deemed a failed project having yielded zero wins and a highest finishing position of fifth in 2005.

After it joined in 2002 with an enormous amount of resources including a dedicated wind tunnel in Cologne, which is still used by F1 teams today, and its own engine programme with an estimated budget of £230 million per-year, via Reuters.

The Japanese carmaker eventually withdrew from F1 in 2009 after the company made its first loss at the height of the global financial crisis, citing the team’s failure as something that affected their financial stability.

Despite their previous failures in F1, journalist Scott Mitchell-Malm believes the mood within Toyota has changed since it pulled out in 2009 when discussing a potential return on The Race F1 podcast.

Toyota ‘attitude has changed’ since 2009 failure

Over 10 years later, Toyota is reportedly considering a comeback to F1 as a sponsor to the Haas F1 team with the scope of entering a technical partnership.

Their general manager for motorsport, Masaya Kaji, was also spotted in the Haas garage during the British Grand Prix weekend.

Mitchell-Malm believes senior management within the Japanese manufacturer has changed its tune over competing in the top flight single-seater series.

“The attitude has definitely changed. There was definitely a feeling after the withdrawal due to the colossal amount of investment and the nature of the exit in the middle of the economic crisis that Toyota would never come back to F1, that those scars ran way too deep.

“But there was an admission towards the end of late last year from Akio Toyota, who said that having been on site at the Japanese Grand Prix, the world of F1 that he remembered, it had moved away from that and was actually something more interesting.”

Toyota return would help carmaker commercially

Toyota has programmes in the World Endurance Championship and the World Rally Championship, so you would think adding an F1 programme would create overload and lead to spiralling costs.

F1’s budget cap leaves more space for car manufacturers to explore other projects (i.e. Ferrari in Le Mans) without worrying they will spend too much money.

The added commercial exposure from being in F1 would make financial sense for Toyota, considering they would also not be entering as an engine manufacturer.

Team owner Gene Haas was previously rumoured to be selling the team, but getting Toyota onboard could persuade him to continue. Esteban Ocon has also been linked to the team and the addition of a car manufacturer’s backing would make it a more lucrative team than the current options on the grid.