Haas team boss reveals why 'talks with Toyota took a long time'
F1 News
Haas team boss Ayao Komatsu has revealed the talks with Toyota took place over a long time due to the American team's existing partnership with Ferrari. The Italian team will continue to supply Haas with parts such as the engine and gearbox, while Toyota will support with a technical partnership on the chassis side.
It will mark the return of the Toyota name to Formula 1. The manufacturer ran its own racing team in F1, titled 'Toyota Racing', from 2002 to 2009. They managed to secure 13 podiums and three pole positions. The best year for Toyota Racing came in 2005, where the team finished fourth in the constructors' championship.
Toyota in 2005 at the British GP
Why did talks with Toyota take a long time?
Toyota will partner with the Haas F1 Team and make its wind tunnel available to the team. This is the same wind tunnel the team used when they were previously active in the sport.
The collaboration between the two parties was officially announced on 11 October. However, behind-the-scenes talks had been going on for a long time. This did not always go smoothly, as Haas team boss Komatsu confirmed in a press briefing to selected media, including GPBlog: "Yes, it took a reasonable amount of time."
The Japanese boss also revealed that the current collaboration with Ferrari posed no difficulties: "To be honest, it was relatively straightforward. We've been working with Ferrari since day one, so we understand each other very well. I’ve been talking with Fred [Vasseur] from the very early stages of this idea of the collaboration because the Ferrari-Haas relationship is the foundation. I went in with the mindset that they need to really understand that one. If they feel that this Toyota-Haas alliance will be a threat to them [Ferrari], that's not going to work," Komatsu said.
This article has been created in collaboration with Matt Gretton