Toyota have made a surprise return to F1 after 15 years away after announcing a new ‘technical partnership’ with Haas.
The Japanese car manufacturer will have their branding featured on Haas cars from the United States Grand Prix onwards, with Toyota providing “design, technical and manufacturing services” to the North Carolina-based team.
But the company’s chairman, Akio Toyoda, said this was not the first step in making a sensational return to the F1 grid for the first time since 2009.
“I think that, somewhere deep in his heart, that ordinary older car-loving guy Akio Toyoda had always regretted having blocked — by pulling out of F1 — Japanese youths’ path toward driving the world’s fastest cars,” Toyoda said.
He added: “That said, with the media watching my every step, I dare to add that I still believe my decision as the president of Toyota to withdraw from F1 was not wrong.”
