Haas is evaluating the possibility of using some services at the Toyota TGR-E headquarters in Cologne. The German headquarters, former headquarters of the Formula 1 program and now used for the motorsport activities of the Japanese manufacturer, has always remained active even after the farewell to the top formula (formalized in 2009). The technological hub is still a point of reference today, the wind tunnel was used until last year by McLaren and has still been chosen by the Andretti F1 project working group for the aerodynamic tests of the first scale model.
Haas’ interest is linked to the possibility of using the Toyota ‘wind tunnel’ instead of the Ferrari one (used since the team’s debut in F1 in 2016) plus other services available at the German headquarters.
Nothing to do, at least for now, with the involvement of the Japanese manufacturer in a Formula 1 program, nor with a potential sale of the team. The partnership that links Haas to Dallara, the structure in which chassis and other components of the single-seater are produced, is also confirmed. The collaboration will celebrate its tenth year next season.
Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal Haas F1 Team
Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images
If Haas reaches an agreement with Toyota, it will be an operation that will reduce the collaboration with the Ferrari structure in Maranello, where the team’s Design Office is operational under the guidance of Andrea De Zordo, but it is not yet clear the extent of the partnership with the Cologne headquarters in terms of services, which could include the simulator currently destined by Toyota to external structures and to its own WEC programme.
The world’s leading automotive manufacturer is monitoring the good times the Circus is experiencing from afar and recently supported the Formula 2 program of one of its drivers, Ritomo Miyata, winner of the Super Formula and Super GT championships last year. But at the moment there are no signals that can be linked to an official return to Formula 1 for the Japanese giant, an operation that would also include the design of a power unit.
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