The Toyota suggestion and the link with Ferrari
In recent days, we reported how a surprising rapprochement between Toyota and the F1 world was being considered in Hungary, through discussions about a possible partnership with the American Haas team. As already highlighted, any future negotiations between the two entities do not foresee any possibility of the Japanese entering as engine suppliers.
Haas is closely tied to Ferrari, and indeed the partnership between the Prancing Horse and the team founded by Gene Haas is set to become even stronger. According to the German website Auto Motor und Sport, the Americans will continue to use the engines produced in Maranello at least until the end of the 2028 Formula 1 season.
The discussions with Toyota concern, more simply, the use of the wind tunnel that the Japanese have in Cologne. In recent years, it has been the McLaren team that has regularly conducted tests at the facility. However, after completing the refurbishment of their internal wind tunnel in Woking last summer, the English team has resumed conducting all aerodynamic tests in-house.
Toyota has thus lost a ‘client’ to whom they could rent out the wind tunnel, and with it, an important source of income. To ensure high utilization of the facility’s production capacity, the Japanese company is currently seeking new F1 partners. Haas, whose aerodynamic development is currently carried out entirely in Ferrari’s wind tunnel in Maranello, is interested in this opportunity.
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