Toyota’s presence within Haas is strengthened. The US team has announced that from next season the team will change its name to TGR Haas F1, an acronym for Toyota Gazoo Racing. In the announcement, the agreement is defined as ‘title partnership’, confirming the Japanese company’s growing interest in the Formula 1 market. After having signed a multi-year technical partnership in October 2024, the new agreement between Haas and Toyota is a further step towards greater involvement, given that TGR has reduced the budget allocated to the WEC by a third to divert it to the F1 programme.
The managers of the Japanese giant seem to have taken advantage of the disappointing experience that saw them protagonists in Formula 1 from 2002 to 2009. Despite a pharaonic budget, the team failed to achieve the expected results, remaining without victories. Now the approach seems to be very different compared to twenty-five years ago, when entry into F1 was announced with enormous expenses even for current values. The partnership with Haas proceeds under the radar, Toyota is officially intent on training engineers.
Next year the TGR working group will deal with the TPC tests, (“TGR Haas Driver Development Program”) with particular attention to the growth of junior drivers. This season the TPC program was carried out with the Haas VF-23 on the circuits of Silverstone, Paul Ricard, Fuji Speedway, Imola and Mugello for a total of 14 days. Among the pilots involved were the Japanese Ryo Hirakawa, Ritomo Miyata, Sho Tsuboi and Kamui Kobayashi.
Ayao Komatsu,Haas F1 Team Team Principal, Akio Toyoda, Toyota Motor Corporation Chairman, Tomoya Takahashi, GAZOO Racing President
Photo at: TOYOTA GAZOO Racing
“During the 2025 season I saw young TGR drivers and engineers begin to believe in their potential and aim for even bigger dreams – commented Akio Toyoda, President of Toyota Motor Corporation – seeing this transformation deeply moved me. And today, I can say with confidence, Toyota has finally started to move, to really move. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Gene Haas and Ayao Komatsu for standing alongside our young engineers and drivers, believing in their potential”.
“Now we have another step forward in our partnership with Haas, the time has come for the next generation to take their first steps onto the world stage. Together with Gene Haas, Ayao and everyone in the TGR Haas F1 Team, we will build a culture and a team for the future. Toyota is now truly on the move.”
Akio Toyoda’s words do not go into detail, but they lend themselves to being interpreted as a further step towards a potential return (in official form) to Formula 1. This time the Japanese company will move in small steps, carefully evaluating how and when to come out into the open. But the road now seems marked.
“It is a privilege for us to deepen our relationship with Toyota Racing through this new title partnership agreement,” said Haas team principal, Ayao Komatsu. “We ran a strong TPC testing program in 2025, but there was much more going on behind the scenes, including the development and installation of the simulator at our Banbury facility, which will be operational in 2026. Staff training was also carried out, a program which saw close collaboration between Haas F1 Team and TGR with mutual benefits”.
Haas also announced the date on which the livery of the VF-26, the single-seater that will be on track next season, will be revealed. The launch will take place online on January 23rd, on the eve of departure towards the Catalunya circuit where the first collective tests of the season are scheduled from January 26th to 30th. Each team will be granted three track days, followed by two further official tests in February at the Bahrain International Circuit.
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