F1 | Haas on the rise: “No one can say we don’t know how to develop”

Even though the last two races did not guarantee a particular haul of points, especially due to the disappointment of Spa, a track where Haas actually expected to be able to fight concretely for points, the first part of the season has certainly been positive for the American team.

Seventh place in the constructors’ championship, not far from rival Racing Bulls, as well as the many points scored in the trio of high-speed Grands Prix, confirmed the progress made by the American team in managing updates.

The performance in high-speed corners, the most marked limitation of the VF-24 at the beginning of the season, also due to the lack of aerodynamic load, improved during the championship thanks to the 2 large packages introduced in China and Great Britain. The path to take to further improve the car is clear, but what satisfies the team most is the path shown.

If you think back, it was not unusual to see a competitive Haas at the beginning of the season, thanks to a good winter development where most of the resources were concentrated, to then struggle more during the world championship, when the lack of funds also took over. Thanks also to the sponsors that have taken over in recent years, the American team has found greater financial stability, which has allowed them to update the VF-24 more frequently.

However, last season, Haas also had to deal with the same problem as Ferrari, namely the fact that the aerodynamic concept chosen at the beginning of the regulatory cycle had not yielded the desired results, limiting development. For this reason, during 2023, major changes arrived only at the end of the championship, when it was decided to change direction to understand the aerodynamic philosophy that would form the basis of the 2024 single-seater, despite the limitations imposed by the VF-23 chassis.

This year’s story is very different, where so far the technicians have managed to update the car not only with a certain consistency, but also effectively improving performance. Even if the Imola package didn’t actually deliver all the potential that was expected, the single-seater has actually taken a step forward, but this wasn’t enough for the Team Principal, who since taking office has wanted more transparent communication.

“If you look at the number of people we have and what people we have, except for a few technicians, we are pretty much the same people as last year. Of course, we have changed the structure and the way we are organized to improve communication between the various departments and the way you can work, but what we have focused on the most is putting the right people in the right place, having a strategy to promote that type of communication,” explained Ayao Komastu.

Nico Hulkenberg, Haas F1 Team

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

“From the first day I took office, I wanted more transparent and honest communication, to look at the problems and solve them all together. We did it from the winter tests, trying to understand what the guidelines and basic characteristics of the VF-24 were, what the strengths and weaknesses are, to understand which direction to go in the wind tunnel and CFD”.

“The China package did not give all the results we hoped for and, even if it made the car faster, it was important to understand why it did not guarantee what we expected, we did it with honesty and transparency, also because it was important to understand for the next package. The one brought to Silverstone was a clear step forward”.

The key element is that the engineers have managed to add downforce without excessively penalising other aspects of the car, especially in a context where three rival teams have gone back on the updates. An aspect that Ayao Komastu, who has been leading the team since this year, is especially proud of: “The updates have worked, the car has proven to be fast”.

Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal, Haas F1 Team, Gene Haas, Owner and Founder, Haas F1 Team, on the grid

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

“This should give the engineers a lot of confidence, right? The press said that our engineers were unable to improve the performance, but we succeeded. Now we have proven it. No one can deny that we have improved the performance of the car. This should give them a lot of confidence.” Furthermore, the VF-24 did not even exhibit the much-feared bouncing.

The fact that after half the season Haas has collected many more points than last year, so much so as to push even Esteban Ocon to believe in the project, for Komastu the main element is precisely the way in which the team has managed to recover after a difficult championship.

“I think in short, yes, the fact that we have so many points confirms that we are going in the right direction. But it is not only the number of points, because those, like the results, also depend on the performances of the other teams. So I only focus on what we can control, which is on us, how we can improve the team and our performances. Of course, having scored 27 points, double the number of last year, is positive, but it is even more encouraging how we worked together, honestly. Now we really work as a team. This for me is the main point and the sign that we are going in the right direction.”