Haas, an American-owned team, is fresh from the bombshell news that historic team principal Guenther Steiner will not remain on the command deck after the failure to extend his contract. Former technical director Ayao Komatsu has been promoted to head of the team and is currently conducting a review of operations to understand how best to proceed.
While Komatsu has broader matters to attend to, the team continues to push ahead with preparations for the 2024 car and has outlined plans to rack up valuable mileage ahead of the start of official F1 pre-season testing in Bahrain on February 21 .
Speaking to media outlets, including Motorsport.com, about the plans for the 2024 car, Komatsu said: “On February 11th we have a shakedown in Silverstone and then, two days before the start of official testing, another shakedown in Bahrain Then we will start the official tests.”
Haas endured a difficult 2023 season, in which it finished at the bottom of the constructors' championship standings, despite its car showing a more competitive pace at times. The team struggled for much of the season to try to understand why the VF-23 was often so fast over a single lap, but then struggled so much over race distance.
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
Nico Hulkenberg, Haas VF-23
A change to the car concept introduced by the United States Grand Prix brought further confusion, as the team ended the year without knowing whether it had improved things, as drivers Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen disagreed and they used different specifications.
Speaking about the progress made by the team over the winter, Komatsu expressed some confidence, but was keen to point out that he doesn't expect a dramatic leap in quality from the first race.
“The 2024 car is a clear step forward,” he said. “But will it be good enough to fight the competition straight away? I don't think so, because we started quite late.”
“We changed the concept so late and then, by doing the Austin update, we diverted some resources. So, I'm realistic about the car we'll put on track in Bahrain, without wanting to be negative.”
Komatsu believes that the team should not be judged on the potential it will have in Bahrain, but on the progress it can make from the first race.
“It's not the fault of our engineers or our guys, who are good people,” he said. For me, the key is that whatever car we put on track in Bahrain, whatever problems we encounter, we will try to understand them and move from there as a team, rather than having problems with a lack of cohesion between certain departments.”
“We are a small team, so we can't have these internal problems. We have to move as one team, otherwise we have no chance.”
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