Haas unveiled a Godzilla-themed livery created in collaboration with Toho ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix, leading the team’s Tokyo launch at Tokyo Midtown Hibiya. The special scheme, applied to the VF-26 cars, retains Haas’s core white, black and red colorway while adding Godzilla artwork to the sides and rear quarter and textured detailing around the sidepods. The reveal continues a season-long partnership with Toho and was described as a first for both organizations.

Team and corporate ties framed the announcement: the project reinforces Haas’s deeper alignment with Japan after the team was rebranded TGR Haas F1 Team following a technical partnership with Toyota, and Haas treated Suzuka as a de facto home race because of its naming-rights relationship with Toyota Gazoo Racing. TGR Haas said the livery is intended to introduce the Godzilla brand to new audiences; Toho executive Keiji Ota said Godzilla’s symbolism of power and resilience reflects the team’s ethos. Team principal Ayao Komatsu, who attended the launch, called the design a new milestone for both partners and said the team’s priority at Suzuka is to focus on fundamentals and get both cars into double points.

Drivers Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman will carry the special paint at Suzuka, where Ocon called the track “the best circuit on the calendar.” Bearman entered the weekend fifth in the drivers’ standings after recent finishes that included seventh in Australia and eighth and fifth across the sprint and grand prix in China. Haas confirmed the Godzilla collaboration will reappear at the United States Grand Prix in Austin later this year, timed ahead of Toho’s new film Godzilla Minus Zero due November 6. The launch generated a positive reaction from fans and media — some joking that Haas had “cooked” with the concept — and it doubled as both a race-week visual tribute and a broader cultural and commercial partnership between the team, Toho and Toyota.

Sources