Haas and Toyota used their collaboration to stage one other Testing of Earlier Vehicles (TPC) occasion, this time on the Fuji Speedway in Japan the place two drivers bought behind the wheel
The reigning champion within the Japanese Tremendous Components sequence has taken half in an “audition” check in a Components 1 automobile. The check, held at Fuji Speedway in Japan this week, noticed two drivers from the Asian nation drive the Haas VF-23 which raced within the 2023 F1 World Championship.
Such Testing of Earlier Vehicles (TPC) periods have been made attainable by the workforce’s partnership with Toyota, formalised final 12 months. The Japanese carmaker, by its Gazoo Racing arm, helps Haas with technical sources and, in return, its workers get expertise of the top of motorsport.
And that features alternatives for the drivers it employs in different disciplines. Ryo Hirakawa is one such driver who has benefitted from that partnership and is reserve driver for the workforce, having additionally pushed free apply periods for a number of outfits on the F1 grid.
Hirakawa, 31, a double World Endurance Championship title-winner, was a type of two drivers who bought behind the wheel in Fuji. He drove on Tuesday, in entrance of a crowd invited to the circuit to observe the monitor motion.
For the second of the 2 days of operating, there was a debutant within the cockpit. Sho Tsuboi, 30, who gained the Tremendous Components title final 12 months and likewise races GT automobiles, bought his first expertise of F1 equipment.
In response to Masaya Kaji, Toyota Gazoo Racing’s director of world motorsport, the check was not only a prize for Tsuboi’s Tremendous Components success. “What occurs subsequent relies upon solely on Tsuboi’s efficiency and his communication with the workforce,” he mentioned.
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“That is an audition or a variety check, not simply due to his expertise. We need to assess his actual efficiency. He has to work laborious and talk in English. The aim is to evaluate his potential. Tsuboi has nice potential, nevertheless it’s not simply his outcomes. The check just isn’t a reward for turning into Tremendous Components champion.
“These TPC checks are a part of our folks efforts, as we’ll give attention to human useful resource improvement. I consider that Sho, a former Tremendous Components champion, is not going to solely contribute to the event of his abilities, however can even present nice motivation for the opposite TGR drivers.
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“As well as, mechanics and engineers from Toyota Motor Company shall be current, making this a useful alternative for them as effectively . Experiencing first-hand the applied sciences and abilities required on the world’s highest stage, F1, will definitely be an vital expertise for his or her progress.”
Hirakawa and Tsuboi will not be the primary Toyota drivers to be given the possibility to check fashionable F1 equipment in current months. Haas additionally ran former F1 driver Kamui Kobayashi, who now races within the World Endurance Championship, and Components 2 star Ritomo Miyata in the identical automobile at different TPC outings, giving Toyota priceless information to match Tsuboi’s efficiency.
No matter how effectively he did, it isn’t going to be a route onto the 2026 F1 grid. Haas have already got Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman tied all the way down to contracts for subsequent season, although the latter stays a Ferrari junior driver and the American workforce may need to swiftly discover a alternative ought to the Brit be referred to as up by the Scuderia sooner or later.
