Haas will continue using the Formula 1 Ferrari wind tunnel despite forming a technical alliance with Toyota.
Haas entered a technical alliance with Toyota last Autumn with the deal bringing several benefits to the smallest team on the F1 grid.
Toyota has helped bring support to a TPC [Testing of Previous Car] programme and will be developing an in-loop simulator for the team.
One thing Toyota won’t be providing to Haas, however, is its Cologne wind tunnel, or rather, Haas has opted to continue using Ferrari’s facility.
Team Principal Ayao Komatsu has explained Haas has a “win-win situation” in continuing to use Ferrari’s facility.
“For the foreseeable future, we have no plans to move out of the Maranello wind tunnel,” Komatsu explained (via Autosport).
“For me, it’s a win-win situation.
“Because us and Ferrari are of course fighting in the same championship, so whatever specific issue you have on your wind tunnel hardware, which is related to the specifics of the [ground effect] regulations in this generation, Ferrari is doing the research, they are addressing it, so we take the benefit without us doing the research.
“I don’t see any point in us moving out of the Maranello simulator to go to the Toyota wind tunnel which currently doesn’t have [a ‘rubberised’ floor].
“OK, Andretti is using it, but they’re not competing in F1 yet.”
Toyota wind tunnel out of date
Cadillac isn’t alone in having used Toyota’s Cologne wind tunnel, which was a mainstay of the Japanese marque’s F1 team in the early 21st century.
It was considered a state-of-the-art tool then thanks to using Particle Image Velocimetry over smoke to visualise airflow and several teams used the Toyota wind tunnel after the marque left F1 in 2009.
McLaren employed use of the facility for a decade, wrapping up its deal with Toyota in 2023 to move into its own bespoke facility.
McLaren has benefitted from having one of the best wind tunnels in F1 and it’s no wonder the team has wrought a Constructors’ title from the move.
Ferrari has also reaped benefits from redeveloping its wind tunnel facility, including adding a rubberised rolling road to better mimic track surfaces, finishing just 14 points behind McLaren in the Constructors’ standings in 2024.
So there’s little sense in Haas moving into an outdated Toyota facility or adding another country to its multi-national effort.
Haas simply doesn’t have the time and money to set up an aerodynamic team in Cologne, Germany, or commute to and from its bases in the UK, Italy and the USA.
Changes coming to Haas
According to Autosport, Haas is on the lookout for a new UK HQ in order to “rationalise performance work currently split between the US, the UK and Italy.”
This will also include the simulator Toyota is developing for Haas, which will expand its sim-based operations.
Currently, Haas is limited to a handful of simulator testing days using Ferrari’s tool in Maranello and Komatsu is excited that that is set to change.
“If you look at the simulator, last year we did definitely not more than 15 days,” said Komatsu.
“What other teams only do 15 days of simulator running?
“During the race weekend, we don’t do any simulator running at all. Again, I think everybody else does.
“So all of those capabilities, we haven’t got. And if we have got the simulator in Maranello, that is the only simulator that we have access to. We simply cannot do it.
“We have to send people from here because the Maranello office is largely designed for not directly operational performance people. So that is why having the simulator here in terms of efficiency would be night and day.”
READ MORE – Haas hire ex-Alpine engineer to strengthen Toyota F1 alliance
Discussion about this post