Haas F1 experienced one of its worst moments at the end of the 2023 season, when the team tried to bring one of its only developments of the year to Austin, and it was a failure. Ayao Komatsu, the team director, remembers this difficult moment but is pleased to have quickly corrected the trajectory of his team.
“Austin last year was the lowest point, one of the lowest points for this team” Komatsu said. “Making a change in the 18th race didn’t make sense. Then we did it, and of course the car wasn’t faster, it was even slower.”
“I think we’ve come a long way from hitting rock bottom to having such a positive vibe within the team and good collective work. I think everyone is looking to the future, which is great .”
The Japanese does not want to criticize the work of his predecessor, Günther Steiner, but he believes that his method is better suited to the talent of his employees: “Günther did a lot for the team. He was instrumental in building the team. Without Günther, this team would not exist. I have enormous respect for that.”
“I’ve been part of the team since 2016, the first day of the racing year. Of course, Günther was there before, setting up the team. But I joined the team in January 2016, so I know it quite well, I know the people, I know the strengths and weaknesses of the organization.”
“Over the last five years we have not been performing well. There are some frustrations, things that I thought we could improve if we implemented some things here and there. So this was an opportunity for me to see or to implement these things, to see if my hypothesis was right or if I was wrong.”
“Honestly, like I said, I believed in the people we chose and they proved me right. I did my best to give them the environment to perform well, to put in improvements to the car that work and I take my hat off to them, they delivered.”
For the first time in its existence, Haas F1 will operate with a budget that has reached the ceiling set by the FIA. Komatsu welcomes this and reveals that it very quickly began discussions with Toyota, which became a commercial partner of Haas at the end of the 2024 season.
“I had to do some things immediately. I was pretty sure that without additional investment in resources or facilities, we could improve our performance as a team.”
“So that was something I had to do right away. But in the background, we had to raise the budget cap of the team. I was wondering what was the best way to do it. And then, very early on, from Bahrain, I started talking with Toyota.”
“Initially, of course, the idea was a little fuzzy, if you like. But the more we talked together, the clearer it was that this was a perfect combination, that if we collaborated we could increase the absolute capacity of the team.”
“If we can work effectively within a small team, then if we can gradually increase that basic capacity, we can achieve better things.”
“So, for example, if I don’t change anything, if we continue with this size, this business model, without things like the Toyota collaboration, I think what we’re doing now would be the ceiling. We will not go any further. But that’s not enough.”
“We want to improve. We want to constantly be at the front of the pack and, looking to the future, improve further. To do this, the technical collaboration with Toyota has been key, in my opinion.”
