In October 2024, Haas surprised with a new partnership: The Formula 1 team has been cooperating with Toyota Gazoo Racing since then, although it was initially unclear what this “technical partnership” is supposed to serve. In the meantime, it has turned out where Haas benefits the most: at the simulator.
But Haas team boss Ayao Komatsu came up early on the euphoric grinding and made it clear that the advantages of collaboration will be “not immediately” visible. Because a central goal of the partnership is the development of a modern Driver-the-loop simulator that Haas has not yet had.
Such systems are not only helpful in order to develop a basic set-up before arriving on a racetrack, they also allow alternatives to be tested during an ongoing race weekend. A simulator becomes indispensable, especially with a view to the new regulations from 2026.
Why your own Haas simulator is important
Formula 1 faces profound changes: active aerodynamics, narrower vehicles and, above all, a significantly larger electrical proportion of the drives. For the drivers, this means that dealing with energy recovery and delivery is far more important than before.
Team boss Komatsu emphasizes the meaning: “The management of the Power Unit is much closer, much more than before. The way a driver uses the car has enormous consequences – positive and negative. That is why this is incredibly important.”
At the moment, however, Haas is dependent on using Ferrari’s simulator, a solution that is anything but ideal. Because the times of use are limited and to make the sessions efficiently, your own engineering staff must also be integrated from the racing team.
This means additional travel days for employees who already contest up to 24 races a year. The state -of -the -art simulator from Toyota in Cologne would also not be a solution for Haas because the same logistical challenges exist here.
Team boss admits: “Of course we hang after”
The true added value of the cooperation with Toyota is to accelerate the structure and commissioning of your own system. Because a simulator requires special structural framework conditions, a complex hardware architecture and an elaborate correlation between virtual simulation and real vehicle performance.
“The simulator is definitely one of the most important topics on which we work together with Toyota,” emphasizes Komatsu. “But it is interesting that even if some teams have better simulators, people always decide in the end.”
However, how crucial this area is, a look at the competition shows: Aston Martin only had to admit in spring that the in -house new simulator was “weak” and is currently not in line with reality. Technical director Adrian Newey promptly brought his former Red Bull colleague Giles Wood to the team to lead the development.
But Komatsu admits that Haas has already fallen behind: “Of course we hang after, but we do not close our eyes. We work with high pressure on it. The simulator comes, but it is not yet there. This is clearly a disadvantage for preparing for the next season. But we are trying to implement everything as soon as possible.”
“Every team has its needle somewhere”
However, it should still take until the operational readiness. According to Komatsu, the new system can be expected at the earliest in the second quarter of the coming year, and even this schedule is “optimistic”. This means that for switching to the 2026 regulations, Haas must continue to work with the existing possibilities.
“It’s about processes, about efficiency, focus and teamwork, because the simulator is ultimately just a piece of hardware. Yes, we are currently missing this hardware,” admits the Haas team boss. “But the fact that we can still develop the car in this way shows that we have human quality and teamwork in the house.”
“Building on this, we can then concentrate on improving this hardware. Every team, if you will, has their needle somewhere. In our case, it is the simulator, but as far as people are concerned, we are very lucky to have exactly these people.”
Ferrari simulator is “a clear restriction”
“We are still preparing with the Ferrari simulator. This is a clear restriction. I say nothing negative about Ferrari’s simulator, but just because of the location, accessibility, hourly quota and of course because of the costs, my own system is significantly better.”
Especially with regard to the new drive unit, Komatsu sees a great need for action: “These drives represent an enormous challenge in terms of energy recovery and use. The driver is completely part of this control loop. This is exactly why the simulator is much more important. And in this area we are currently lagging behind.”