Toyota “gradually moving” towards full-scale F1 return

Toyota is now “gradually moving” towards a full-scale return to Formula 1 after its technical partnership with Haas began in 2024, says the director of its sportscar and rallying squad.

The Haas-Toyota alliance kicked off in the closing stages of last season, with the Japanese company’s branding appearing on the American squad’s cars and kit, plus the two sides working together to start Haas’s first Testing of Previous Cars (TPC) development programme and building of a new F1 simulator at the team’s Banbury base.

But when the deal was announced last October, Toyota Gazoo Racing’s director of global motorsport, Masaya Kaji, said there was “no plan” for the manufacturer to either build its own F1 engine or re-enter as a works team – a status it held between 2002 and 2009.

In addition to this, the company always firmly stated that its F1 links with Haas extended only to helping its engineers learn the championship’s processes by working with the squad and provide a pathway for one its drivers to possibly compete in grand prix racing.

But in an interview with Autosport after it was confirmed that Toyota World Endurance Championship driver Ryo Hirakawa has joined Alpine as a reserve driver for 2025 – with the goal of one day racing in F1 – Kaji revealed a change in Toyota’s intent regarding an F1 return of significantly greater depth.

“We are, of course, studying the technologies for 2026 and even current technologies,” said Kaji, a friend of Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu. “I feel we’re gradually moving in that direction.”

But Kaji’s additional comments suggest any greater F1 commitment from Toyota would still be several years away – taking it well into the era where the championship’s simplified V6 turbo hybrid engines will be racing.

“We’re not at a stage where we would redirect all our resources there [to a full F1 return],” he said. “What happens after 2030 is still uncertain. We’re working on various new technologies, so whether our vector aligns with F1 remains to be seen.”

Kaji also said, “if we had our own team, we could choose which drivers to put in the car”.

“In that sense, it would indeed bring us closer to putting drivers in F1,” he added. “But realistically, we have to evaluate how much money and how many staff members would be required to make that happen.

“That’s why I don’t think we’re at the stage of saying, ‘Let’s start a team immediately.’

“For now, building partnerships, like with Haas, and working with various teams is what’s important.

“We’re not in a stage to leap over those steps. We need to focus on doing what we should be doing right now.”