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Toyota Gazoo Racing President Akio Toyoda has expressed his desire to see an improved pathway to Formula 1 for Japanese drivers through the announced collaboration with Haas.
Toyota will provide design and manufacturing services to Haas, while the American but British-based team will offer technical services – but above all market expertise and commercial acumen – in return.
The great leader of Toyota Gazoo Racing knows that each of his words spoken during the announcement of the partnership with Haas has been studied and deciphered. The agreement provides for a new driver development program, under which drivers supported by Toyota – as well as engineers and mechanics – will participate in Haas F1 testing. This aspect is very dear to Mr Toyoda’s heart. It was at length that Toyoda described the ultimate wish of bringing a driver from the lowest echelons of the Toyota industry up to Formula 1, while continuing to create other vocations among young people.
Read also: Official: Toyota and Haas F1 announce their collaboration
The difficult breakthrough of Japanese drivers on the international stage
Yuki Tsunoda (VCARB) is currently the only Japanese driver competing in the premier discipline.
Since 2012, Toyota’s international motor racing presence has mainly focused on GT, but this year the multinational decided to send reigning Super Formula champion Ritomo Miyata to Formula 2. Toyota will also join the Australian V8 Supercars series in 2026.
On the national scene, Toyota supplies engines to high-level teams in Super Formula and is now the exclusive supplier of power units (via TOM’S) for Super Formula Lights and Japanese Formula 4: in other words, Toyota is investing at all levels of the rise of young drivers to the highest level of motorsport, but lacks influence on the placement of products from this thick and little-known sector at the top, in Formula 1.
Many Japanese drivers would have more than the required level to shine in endurance. Miyata is the first single-seater driver recently “exported”.
It is traditional for Honda-powered F1 teams to send their protégés to Super Formula to gain experience with a view to a place in F1. Liam Lawson is the latest example. He follows the path traced by Pierre Gasly and Stoffel Vandoorne. Ayumu Iwasa, another Red Bull junior and F2 winner, replaced the New Zealander in the Mugen team in SF this year.
It has been more difficult for Toyota talent, particularly those born in the country, to break out of the domestic scene and into F1, although the company has arranged for Ryo Hirakawa to test with McLaren after moving to Super Formula and WEC.
The regrets of the big boss of Toyota
“There’s something I feel when I talk to professional drivers. It’s that everyone wants to drive the fastest cars in the world.”Toyoda said.
“That said, I am the person who left F1 [avec le retrait de Toyota en 2009]. So I think the pilots were never able to speak frankly about it to me. It seemed like there was always an inhibiting atmosphere in our booth. In January of this year, I said in front of everyone that I had finally become an ordinary old man who loves cars again. I think that, somewhere deep in his heart, that ordinary old gentleman who loves cars, Akio Toyoda, always regretted having blocked – by retiring from F1 – the path of young Japanese people to driving the most popular cars. fastest in the world.”
And to add: “The SF drivers, whether it’s Toyota or Honda, all grew up racing karts. I think there are a lot of kids all over the country who look up to them and also drive karts. I think that with [Ayao] Komatsu, the Haas team principal, and his team, we need to increase the number of these kids. But before that, I would like to see the day when an SF driver will be behind the wheel of the fastest cars in the world.”
In other words, a Formula 1 car.
Also read: Steiner: No one should own two teams in F1
