Toyota has announced that it will become the title sponsor of the Haas Formula One Team in 2026, replacing digital payment firm Moneygram.
After officially leaving the sport in 2009, Toyota marked its return to Formula One last year with Haas as part of a technical partnership through Toyota’s motorsport and research and development division Toyota Gazoo Racing (TGR).
The announcement shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise though as a key element of the multi-year partnership was signed back in 2024 and in centred around the creation of Haas’ first Testing of Previous Car (TPC) programme that launched in 2025.
Over the course of 14 days, Japanese race drivers Ryo Hirakawa, Ritomo Miyata, Sho Tsuboi and race veteran Kamui Kobayashi all had outings in the previous generation cars through their TGR associations.
The deal has also allowed for the installation of the team’s first-ever personal simulator at the UK base in Banbury, which is set to come online next season.
Chairman of Toyota Motor Corporation Akio Toyoda said: “Throughout our challenges in the 2025 season, I witnessed young TGR drivers and engineers begin to believe in their own potential and set their sights on even greater dreams.
“Seeing this transformation moved me deeply. And today, I can say this with confidence, Toyota has finally begun to move – really move. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Gene Haas and Ayao Komatsu (Haas Team Principal) for standing alongside our young members, believing in their potential, and facing the future with the same passion and perspective.
“By taking our partnership with Haas another step forward next year, TGR’s ‘People, Product, Pipeline’ mantra – will accelerate in a way we have never seen before.
“The time has come for the next generation to take their first steps toward the world stage. Together with Gene Haas, Ayao, and everyone at TGR Haas F1 Team, we will build both a culture and a team for the future. Toyota is now truly on the move.”
The new Toyota deal will run alongside Haas’s existing deal with Ferrari, which began when Haas entered Formula One back in 2016, and includes the supply of Ferrari’s power unit, gearbox and other selected parts and use of the Ferrari simulator at Maranello.
Haas is currently eight in the Teams Championship, just seven points behind Aston Martin with one round to go in Abu Dhabi this weekend.
Also with this deal, one can’t help but wonder if Toyota is inching its way forward to a full works team return to Formula One. Now that would be exciting.
