The Haas Formula 1 team will rebrand slightly for 2026 to mark an expanded partnership with Toyota.
Haas and Toyota began a technical partnership in October last year, which kicked off the team working closely with Toyota’s motorsport arm Toyota Gazoo Racing.
This deal has facilitated a first ever private testing programme for Haas and is leading to the installation of its first in-house driver-in-loop simulator at the team’s main base in the UK.
Toyota has explained the Haas tie-up as a means of developing Japanese drivers - with several taking part in the F1 tests - and also giving engineers more exposure to F1.
The collaboration will grow further in 2026 with Toyota Gazoo Racing becoming Haas’s new title partner, replacing Moneygram.
It will mean the team is officially entered as TGR Haas F1 Team – the first time a Toyota brand has been attached to a team in such a way since the manufacturer’s abrupt exit from F1 in 2009.
The test programme will also be known as the TGR Haas Driver Development Programme.
TGR logos appear on the car already due to the technical partnership but the title partnership raises the prospect of a bigger visual tie-in when the TGR Haas VF-26 livery is revealed on Friday January 23, the week before all 11 teams take part in a private test of their brand new 2026 at Barcelona.
It will also inevitably lead to speculation about Toyota’s ultimate intentions and the possibility of Haas being a vehicle for a fully-fledged F1 return – although Gene Haas seems to have no interest in selling his eponymous team.
Haas described the deal as a “further strengthening of the relationship between the two brands” while Toyota chairman Akio Toyoda – who has been instrumental in the deal and the emphasis on helping Japanese drivers – said “Toyota is now truly on the move”.
“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,” said Toyoda.
“Seeing this transformation moved me deeply. And today, I can say this with confidence, Toyota has finally begun to move – really move.
“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.”
