Haas and TOYOTA GAZOO Racing have teamed up to advance motorsport and allow children to chase their dreams of driving the world's fastest cars. Akio Toyoda shares his intent behind the decision.
Like old friends
Morizo and Team Principal Komatsu, what resonated with each of you in that first meeting? What words gave a sense of the other’s passion, and what left a strong impression?
Morizo
To be honest, I couldn’t believe it was our first time meeting. I felt like we had already met and talked somewhere before.
I don’t think either of us even said, “Nice to meet you.” It was like the conversation just started rolling the moment we met.
Truthfully, for me, it felt like catching up with someone who I’d been talking to for a long, long time and just chatting about what we're going to do.
Team Principal Komatsu
Exactly the same for me. It’s not like I hadn’t known about Chairman Akio Toyoda before we met, but…
Morizo
What image did you have of me?
Team Principal Komatsu
In my mind, Toyota seemed like a very large, strait-laced company.
Morizo
A bureaucratic pain in the neck?
Team Principal Komatsu
A place with hefty inertia, where getting anything done takes time.
As already mentioned, looking on from afar, this was the person who quit F1. I couldn’t understand why you would quit!
We needed to create a motorsports culture, yet the Japanese manufacturers kept coming and going. Even at our first meeting, I brought that up and told Morizo that I really wanted it to stop.
We threw off all reserve, and I was able to ask him frankly, “Why did you do that (withdraw from F1)?” That’s what it was like. You wouldn’t imagine that happening, normally.
It really felt like we had known each other a long time, and we had a wonderful conversation. I honestly thought, what an honor to be able to work with someone who is driven by such inspirations and ideas.
I feel very fortunate to have had such an encounter in my life. Now, the only thing left is to make the most of it, and I’m determined to ensure that we do.
Perhaps it was inevitable that two individuals who are used to taking on the world would hit it off. Cars bearing the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing name will take to the track from the upcoming United States Grand Prix, to be staged on Haas’s home soil in October.
