Ryo Hirakawa, the driver passed over by Haas for a 2027 Formula One race seat, will remain with Toyota's World Endurance Championship outfit for the 2027 season. The Japanese racer, who was the candidate put forward by Haas technical partner and title sponsor Toyota Racing, will now contest his sixth year in the championship, aiming to add to the titles he won in 2022 and 2023.
Haas confirmed Rafael Camara as the successor to Esteban Ocon, who will leave the team at the end of the season. Team principal Ayao Komatsu was swayed by Camara's performance in a testing session at Portimao in August. Other drivers strongly considered for the vacancy, according to Komatsu, included reserve driver Jack Doohan and McLaren-affiliated Leonardo Fornaroli.
Toyota's Contingency Plan
Toyota had been mindful that they could lose Hirakawa to F1 had Haas chosen him. In light of that possibility, boss David Fleury said last month that he had "a plan in mind" in case they needed to pivot, thought to be the promotion of reserve driver Esteban Masson to a race seat.
There has been speculation in recent months that Ocon might have been offered a drive in WEC by Toyota if they lost Hirakawa. However, it is understood that was never a realistic outcome. Ocon remains keen on continuing his F1 career if he can.
Komatsu's Transparency with Toyota
Asked how he felt Toyota would react to its candidate being overlooked, Komatsu said he had made no promises to the carmaker's chairman Akio Toyoda when their partnership was agreed. "From the very moment we started talking with Toyota, in '24, I knew that Akio-san was very keen to get one of his drivers to the race seat next year, 2027," Komatsu said.
"I went to see him in person in Tokyo before we signed anything, before we made any commitment, because I didn't want any misunderstanding. I didn't want him to invest in the team with a misunderstanding of, 'If we work together we can get one of my drivers to the race seat'. I said to him, 'I understand your target, but whoever your driver is going to be has to be the fastest one, because if I choose the driver who is not the fastest, who is not the best, it's going to be labeled as, okay, Toyota just threw the cash in to get their driver into F1'."
Komatsu added: "Then, whoever this driver is who got the seat because of Toyota backing, is going to be labeled as a Toyota pay driver. And then Haas F1 is not going to produce the results that we should be producing because this guy is not the fastest guy. So, for all three parties involved, it's not going to work. I was totally transparent from the start with Akio-san – we are going to choose the driver who is the fastest. And he is completely happy with that."
He said Toyoda was "never expecting his driver, in this case Ryo Hirakawa, to be given a seat without merit" and was assured the assessment was being done "in as professional and as fair a way as possible". Komatsu told Toyoda in person on the Monday after Singapore, saying: "It was important for me to look in his eyes in person to just tell him."
