Toyota issue clear verdict on F1 works team and power unit after return with Haas

Toyota has confirmed that they are not planning a full return to Formula 1 as a team or power unit supplier, following the announcement of their new technical agreement with Haas.

Haas and Toyota, through the Japanese marque’s Gazoo Racing arm, announced a new multi-year partnership on Friday that will see the two brands collaborate on a design, technical and manufacturing level.

Toyota currently ‘have no plan’ for full Formula 1 re-entry

Additional reporting by Michelle Foster

The Toyota Gazoo Racing logo will appear on the Haas VF-24 from the United States Grand Prix onwards next weekend, and in a subsequent press conference attended by PlanetF1.com, Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu confirmed that the team’s existing partnerships with Ferrari and Dallara will be maintained in some form moving forward, stating “it’s not a case of replacing one with another” after Toyota’s arrival.

But with Toyota having featured on the Formula 1 grid as a factory team from 2002 to 2009, the possibility of returning to the grid in a greater capacity was put to TGR’s general manager of motorsport engineering, Masaya Kaji.

“We have no plan to enter power unit supply, at this moment,” he replied to media including PlanetF1.com.

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“Actually, we have no plan to have a team in F1. At this moment, we have the best choice and best option to collaborate with Haas.”

Akio Toyoda, Toyota president, was at the helm when the brand made the decision to pull out of Formula 1 in 2009, and he reasoned that the company’s objectives were to do with the road market at that point.

Now, he explained that the company is looking to bring motorsport technology to the road, making this Haas partnership a sensible one from a business perspective.

“At the time, I think Toyota was more interested in making a bigger company than in making better cars,” Toyoda explained of their previous Formula 1 exit.

“As president, I decided at the time that the company’s objectives were sales and profits, and that this kind of activity [F1] was not really suitable for the company.

“Now we are transforming ourselves into a company that builds better cars based on motorsport. To do that, we need people who can take responsibility for that.”

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