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Haas returned to Japan’s Fuji Speedway this week, combining a fan-focused event with valuable running for two Toyota-backed drivers. The team completed two days of activity at the former Formula 1 venue on Tuesday and Wednesday, continuing its increasingly visible relationship with the Japanese automotive giant.
With the grandstands open to spectators, the event offered fans the opportunity to watch the Haas car on track while also giving Sho Tsuboi and Nirei Fukuzumi time behind the wheel of Formula 1 machinery. The format underlined the dual purpose of the programme: engaging the team’s supporters while creating a platform for Japanese talent.
The running also follows Haas’s successful Testing of Previous Cars programme at the Toyota-owned circuit last year. That earlier outing established Fuji as an important setting for the team’s activities in Japan, and this week’s return extended the connection between Haas, Toyota and the country’s racing community. The wider value of such running is reflected in other recent TPC activity, including McLaren’s Portimão test, where drivers shared a previous-generation car ahead of the Formula 1 summer break.
Tsuboi was back in the Haas cockpit for his second test outing with the team. His latest appearance adds another opportunity to build experience in an F1 car after a career that includes four Super GT GT500 titles and the 2024 Super Formula championship.
For Fukuzumi, the Fuji event represented a first step into Formula 1 machinery. The current Super Formula racer, who won the 2019 Super GT GT300 championship, made his debut in the Haas car during the two-day programme.
The contrast between the two drivers gave the event an additional dimension. Tsuboi could draw on previous Haas running, while Fukuzumi experienced an F1 car for the first time, all in front of fans at one of Japan’s best-known racing venues.
The team has also invited supporters to revisit the action through a selection of photographs from the test, available in the gallery at the top of the page.
He’s a software engineer with a deep passion for Formula 1 and motorsport. He co-founded Formula Live Pulse to make live telemetry and race insights accessible, visual, and easy to follow.
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