What Toyota’s new F1 deal will offer Haas that Gene Haas ‘didn’t want to invest in’

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Haas are the smallest outfit on the Formula 1 grid but they are outperforming their expectations brilliantly this season.

Nico Hulkenberg is fighting for a place in the top ten of the Drivers’ Championship, while Kevin Magnussen’s performance at Monza highlighted his ability.

Haas are targeting sixth in the Constructors’ Championship with closest rival RB struggling to implement their upgrades effectively this year.

Team principal Ayao Komatsu joined Toyota chiefs ahead of the United States Grand Prix in announcing a new partnership going forward.

Toyota have an unfulfilled history in Formula 1 after their eight-season stint on the grid where they failed to win a race despite putting a huge amount of investment into the project.

However, the Japanese manufacturer are still prolific across many other series and Haas’s partnership will see them working closely with the Toyota Gazoo Racing team.

Speaking on The Race Podcast, journalist Scott Mitchell-Malm provided more details about the partnership between Haas and Toyota.

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

Toyota don’t appear set to make an immediate return to F1 as a team through their relationship with Haas.

However, the collaboration is expected to be mutually beneficial and may take some pressure off team owner Gene Haas.

Mitchell-Malm believes Toyota will offer Haas the chance to create their own testing program alongside the work they do on race weekends.

This hasn’t been possible before because Haas wasn’t willing to invest the necessary resources to make it happen.

Toyota to allow Haas to run F1 testing program for the first time

Talking about the benefits of the Haas-Toyota partnership, Mitchell-Malm said: “The timeline of it is really interesting because as you said, it’s not something that’s going to result in instant performance.

“Those stickers that will be on the car from Austin don’t mean that there will be Toyota advancements for Haas this season or maybe not even next season in real terms.

“There’ll be other tangible benefits next year in likely the creation of that testing program, the testing of previous cars that we often hear other teams do, pretty much all, but not every team is engaged in that.

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

“Haas has been nowhere near having that kind of program. It hasn’t had the cash because it’s not something that Gene Haas wants to invest in.

“Crucially, it hasn’t had the personnel. The Haas engineering team is basically what it takes trackside. There’s not really any backup there.

“I think Komatsu described it as no reinforcement. So, Toyota will basically be funding and helping staff a testing program.

“And similarly, there’ll be a simulator from TGR [Toyota Gazoo Racing] installed at Banbury. It’ll be the first UK on-site simulator that Haas will have.”

Peter Windsor makes 2026 Haas driver prediction after Toyota partnership

Toyota are hoping that their partnership with Haas will also give their drivers opportunities to learn from a Formula 1 team.

Haas haven’t announced a reserve driver for 2025 yet with Oliver Bearman and Esteban Ocon arriving ahead of next season and Toyota may want a say in that.

Toyota currently have Ryo Hirakawa on McLaren’s books and he’s done some private F1 testing with the team.

However, Toyota’s presence as a sponsor and partner with Haas gives them a better chance of promoting a driver onto the grid.

Peter Windsor has named one driver Haas could sign for 2026 after agreeing their partnership with Toyota.

Bearman and Ocon will want to have a fair crack at building a relationship with Haas once they start working together before potentially being replaced a year later.