Haas would have likely made a different choice for its 2027 Formula 1 driver line-up if it hadn't started its own Testing of Previous Cars programme last year.

Ferrari junior Rafael Camara was picked to replace incumbent Esteban Ocon at Haas on a multi-year deal despite facing stiff competition.

He became the "crystal clear" choice with his strong performance in an old-school 'F1 shootout' at Portimao, as part of that TPC run in a 2025 Haas, having fended off that competition.

Asked if the logic for signing Camara went beyond him being the fastest driver in the Portimao test day, Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu simply said: "He was the quickest. That was a very simple answer. Definitely, yeah. He was impressive."

Camara's Portimao competition included McLaren's Formula 2 champion Leonardo Fornaroli and Ryo Hirakawa, the top F1 prospect of one of Haas's key backers, Toyota - which was instrumental in Haas having a TPC programme in the first place.

Together with Toyota, Haas's TPC programme had already given test opportunities to ex-F1 drivers Kamui Kobayashi, Kazuki Nakajima, Romain Grosjean and Super Formula champions Sho Tsuboi and Ritomo Miyata over the first year and a half of the project.

But the biggest vindication of the TPC project so far came in August, with the Portimao shootout test being vital to Haas's 2027 driver choice.

"This is part of the reason why we wanted to have a capability to do a TPC [programme]," Komatsu said.

"Then last year was about getting off the ground, operating professionally, creating a good culture, a good team.

"Then this year we knew that we have to be able to evaluate drivers. We can anticipate that because of the contractual situation of our drivers [Ocon and Ollie Bearman's contracts expire at the end of 2026].

"We had the capability, therefore we could assess it by ourselves. But without doing that one, I cannot be nowhere near as confident, right?

"Then I don't know if I made the same decision, seriously. I don't, probably not. I don't know because Formula 2 from outside is very, very difficult to understand.

"All you guys were questioning when I took Ollie for a '25 seat, 'Ollie's not performing in F2 [he finished 12th in 2024]. Are you sure that's the right choice?' I had a question from many of you, but I was confident because we had access to Ollie through FP1s. I knew what he was capable of.

"We knew what he was capable of and what kind of personality he is etc. So without doing this TPC, if we decided to take Rafa without doing it, it certainly feels much more like a gamble.

"Then do I want to gamble like that? Probably not, but it's a hypothetical situation. This is why we put the environment in place so that we can take it under our control."

'Equally exciting' potential to Bearman

Just three days separate Bearman and Camara in age, and both will have spent five years on the junior ladder before graduating full-time to F1.

Both demonstrated devastating raw pace below F1 despite some rough edges - Camara is leading the F2 championship, but there have been lost wins and podiums through incidents.

So The Race asked Komatsu if he feels there are some parallels between the two: "Yeah, in terms of potential we see, I would say equally exciting. Very, very similar.

"But in the details, I think it's different because what impressed me most with Ollie was how he understood the overall situation, how he understood his role, how he executed in FP1 in Mexico [2023], first time in F1 car.

"That's a very different scenario to what Rafa had in Portimao, which was a clear, clear shootout, right? The first time he's jumping in our car. So speed, honestly, excitement about the speed, I would say similar.

"But in terms of how we were impressed with Rafa, it's really that judging those conditions, because you got to have a very, very good feel for the car about the grip, to be able to judge those ever-so-changing conditions.

"The condition was changing every minute, every lap, right? No two laps are the same. So that was impressive. But also knowing it's a shootout, how he, let's say, created his environment so that he could focus on what he needs to do and how he wasn't fixated on the outcome.

"He focused on what he needed to do to be himself, to get his best performance, to then understand what the mechanism for him to do that and then execute was very impressive.

"Other than the speed, it's like 'wow' - it's just potential how we can grow together, how we can nurture this talent, how we can flourish, is a potential. So that is the common, exciting factor."

Bearman hasn't been officially confirmed as Camara's 2027 team-mate but it appears to be a matter of time.

"I'd like to continue with Ollie, he's an incredible talent and he showed amazing growth," Komatsu said.

"Then this year, he's shown that he's ready to be a team leader. Also, how he raced in Singapore [he charged from 13th to sixth in the sprint], which was very, very impressive.

"It's just a matter of timing [and] finalising certain details. But yes, it is our intention to continue with Ollie, but then a formal announcement will come in due course."

What of the other candidates?

Ocon has ruled himself out racing in another series in 2027 and is likely to take a reserve driver role elsewhere on the grid next year.

Komatsu spoke highly of the three drivers Camara beat in the shootout. "The good thing of all those driver selection processes was all drivers who were involved in that did a very, very good job. Rafa, Leo Fornaroli, Ryo Hirakawa, Jack Doohan. I believe they all got the best out of themselves and every time they got in the car, they improved.

"So that was honestly a very, very uplifting process to be involved with."

Asked specifically about Haas’s reserve driver Doohan continuing with the team into 2027, Komatsu said: "Our door's open, definitely. We've been talking with him and then his manager as well to see if we can do something together beyond this year.

"So that's still an open question."

And given Toyota was so instrumental to Haas's TPC programme, providing both finance and engineers for it, how did it feel about Haas picking a Ferrari-backed driver over one of its own in Le Mans 24 Hours winner Hirakawa?

"From the very moment we started talking with Toyota in 2024, I knew that Akio-san [Akio Toyoda, Toyota chairman] was very keen to get one of his drivers to the race seat next year, 2027," said Komatsu.

"So I went to see him in person, in Tokyo, before we signed anything, before he made any comment, because I didn't want any misunderstanding. I didn't want him to, let's say, invest in the team with a misunderstanding of, 'OK, if we work together, we can get one of my drivers to the race seat'.

"I said to him, 'Look, I understand your target, but this driver, whoever your driver is going to be, has to be the fastest one, because if I chose the driver who is not the fastest, who is not the best, they're going to be labelled as, OK, Toyota just poured the cash in to get their driver into F1'.

"Then whoever this driver is who got the seat, because of Toyota backing, is going to be labelled as a 'Toyota pay driver'. Then we're not going to produce the result that we should be producing, because this guy's not the fastest guy.

"So, for all three parties involved, it's not going to work, is it? So, I was totally transparent from the start: 'Akio-san, we're going to choose the driver who is the fastest'. And then he's completely happy with that.

"Initially, when we told him the plan to assess Ryo Hirakawa alongside some other drivers, he was actually very happy to say, 'Wow, Haas is doing it properly in this way'.

"That shows the calibre of the person, I think. He was never expecting his driver, in this case, Ryo Hirakawa, to be given a seat without merit, right? And then he was assured that we are doing it as professional and as fair way as possible that we can execute.

"Once I made a decision, and then I went to see him on Monday after Singapore, because we had another event, but that was a good chance for me to catch up with him.

"So, I told him in person with everything, all the process etc which he knew anyway. It was important for me to, again, look at his eyes in person to just tell him. He was absolutely fine. But he's that kind of person. He's great.

"So, I cannot be grateful enough that we have this collaboration that I actually met him."