In 2009, Toyota bid farewell to System 1 after eight seasons within the championship, leaving a major mark as a neighborhood workforce and engine provider.
Throughout its time in F1, the Japanese model achieved 13 podium finishes and secured fourth place within the Constructors’ Championship, making it one of the vital aggressive groups on the grid. Though its final participation was in 2009, Toyota has at all times maintained its ties to motorsport, and now, 15 years later, it returns to the massive stage.
This comeback materializes via Haas, with a multi-year contract that takes impact instantly. The Japanese model shouldn’t be returning as a workforce however as a strategic associate, providing technical help and growth to the American outfit.
Toyota goals to “Anglicize” Haas to interrupt free from Ferrari within the F1 World Championship
Toyota has determined to not return as an official workforce to System 1, however its alliance with Haas represents an necessary step in its technique to stay influential within the sport.
By its Toyota Gazoo Racing division, the Japanese model will present technical help, growth, and manufacturing, considerably enhancing the efficiency of the American workforce. This help will allow Haas to enhance its potential on the grid whereas permitting Toyota to stay actively concerned within the evolution of F1 with out taking up the dangers of being an official workforce.
Regardless of not returning as a workforce, Toyota ensures its presence in discussions concerning the brand new engine laws for 2026. The model may also have a say in driver choice, opening the door to the potential of a Japanese driver becoming a member of Haas.
This sort of technical affect will likely be important throughout the transitional section System 1 will expertise with new adjustments to energy items and laws, permitting Toyota to have a direct presence in future decision-making.
The settlement with Haas may additionally result in a major shift within the workforce’s construction. With Toyota’s backing, Haas may start to distance itself from its relationship with Ferrari and shift its growth focus to England.
This transfer would grant them entry to superior sources, reminiscent of Toyota’s wind tunnel in Cologne and a brand new state-of-the-art simulator—key instruments to boost their competitiveness sooner or later. Whereas Toyota buying Haas shouldn’t be a direct choice, the technical help Toyota will present marks a brand new chapter in its relationship with the American workforce.
Toyota’s cautious method highlights its technique of partaking with System 1 not directly but meaningfully. Performing as a technical associate as a substitute of a full-fledged constructor permits the model to affect F1’s growth with out the commitments a full return would entail.
With the introduction of recent technical laws post-2026, this alliance may show essential for Toyota’s future in F1, doubtlessly enabling a way more energetic position in the event that they determine to take the step of buying the American workforce.