Haas F1 will take to the track this week at Jerez de la Frontera, where it will field three drivers. The two new starters, Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman, will be accompanied by the young Toyota Gazoo Racing driver, Ritomo Miyata.
Indeed, this 'Test of Previous Cars' (TPC) will be carried out thanks to the Japanese manufacturer, who finances it to run the holders and his protégé. It will take place on Wednesday and Thursday, and Haas will run the car from two years ago, its VF-23 from 2023.
This is the first time that Toyota's investment has materially helped Haas since the signing between the two parties, which was announced on the sidelines of the United States Grand Prix, where the VF-24 saw Toyota stickers appear on their body.
Haas had driven a Toyota driver in Abu Dhabi in the person of Ryo Hirakawa, who has since become a reserve driver for Alpine F1. Ayao Komatsu, the director of Haas, explained that Toyota's involvement is not seen at the moment on a sporting level.
“How quickly do you think these things are going to have an impact? You announce it, you think the next day the parts will be on the car? No, no. This type of collaboration takes time. We are at all first stages of setting up the project, etc.” Komatsu said in December.
“So this is a decline, because we have not increased the number of people, but we have to implement the project. People are working more. We are far from having reached the stage where we can feel any advantage. In fact, we are in even greater demand at the moment.
“It's a hollow phase, which is normal, we just have to get out of this phase and move on to one where we can stabilize the project, but it will take several months. To feel the effects on the track, it will be necessary at least a year.”
This is the first time in its history that Haas will conduct private testing, something the team has never been able to do since 2016 for budget reasons. This is also the first time that Haas will compete in a season at the budget ceiling.
Between the arrival of Moneygram as title sponsor last year and that of Toyota, it now has the means. For the regular drivers, this will be an opportunity for additional driving in their new team and with their new track engineers, which will add to the preparation for the 2025 season.
