In Canada, Haas celebrated its 200th F1 Grand Prix, featuring a car livery reminiscent of the colors of their first car from the 2016 season. This milestone is significant for the American team, which, just a few years ago, seemed to be facing an uncertain future. The economic crisis following the Covid pandemic had seriously endangered the team’s prospects, especially after some seasons spent at the back of the grid, notably in 2021. Financial conditions improved, and so did the on-track results, with Haas returning to fight for mid-field positions, as shown by their seventh place in the Constructors’ Championship last year.
Komatsu recalls the best and worst moments in Haas history
Current team principal Ayao Komatsu has been part of the team since its debut and described the past 10 seasons as a roller coaster: “I still remember 10 years ago as if it were yesterday: building the car, pre-season testing, the trip to Melbourne. Since then, there have been many ups and downs, but I am really proud to have celebrated 200 races and the team’s improvement, fighting in the mid-field. I think that is something all of us on the team should be proud of.”
Among these highs and lows stand out two particular memories: the sensational debut at the 2016 Australian GP with a sixth place, followed by another surprising result in Bahrain, and on the opposite end, the struggles of the darkest years. Ayao Komatsu recounted: “The first moment of glory was the first race of 2016 in Melbourne. When we finished building the car, it felt like we had already completed a season. Then we realized we hadn’t done anything yet. Securing sixth place with Romain [Grosjean] was incredible. Then, in Bahrain, fifth place thanks to an aggressive strategy. Those were the best moments. The worst moment was when things started going wrong in 2019 and we couldn’t fix the car. We had a decent qualifying car, but the race pace wasn’t there and we couldn’t solve the problem. Then Covid arrived, and we couldn’t do much.”
The present: how to cope with the Technical Directive on flexible wings
The 2025 Haas season has also been marked by ups and downs, but the team’s average results remain solid. One of the tricky challenges for a small team includes regulatory changes during the year, such as the Technical Directive on flexible wings introduced from the Spanish GP onwards. Komatsu explained that the team had prepared in advance for this change: “It had a relative impact on us. Mainly, we knew it would come before the season started, so we were able to factor it in. You have to leave room for many things—accidents, reliability, etc. That’s part of the game: it’s not something you can precisely account for because you don’t know exactly before the season starts, but it’s about how you manage the unknown.”
Among the uncertainties was the FIA’s experiment during the Barcelona weekend when teams fitted steel skid blocks instead of the usual titanium ones. This was an attempt to find alternative solutions in case of fire risks caused by sparks from the skid blocks, as happened during free practice at the Japanese GP. Teams can continue using titanium ones but must keep a steel spare in case small fires occur again. “My personal opinion is that it’s a problem the circuits should solve,” Komatsu said. “What happened at Suzuka and Shanghai last year… at Suzuka, the track could have done better. I don’t believe it’s up to us as teams to fix the problem based on car specifications.”
The arrival of Cadillac and the new challenges ahead for Haas
Soon, Haas will no longer be the only American team in F1: next year Cadillac will make its debut, having opened a facility in the UK’s Motor Valley, home to advanced structures like Aston Martin’s recently built Silverstone base and Red Bull’s Milton Keynes facility.
Haas itself, alongside its unit at Ferrari’s Maranello campus, has a British base in Banbury which it is considering significantly upgrading: “Your factory is a box, but it’s much better to have a nice box,” Komatsu said. “But even if you have a pleasant working environment, if everyone doesn’t work together in harmony, if you don’t create a positive work environment, people won’t be excited and they will leave.”
The challenge for a small team like Haas is retaining personnel, fending off the allure of major manufacturers: “If we just consider hardware and costs, we can’t compete, so we have to try to be more attractive,” Komatsu added. “In a way, it’s the same thing we think about to get more performance from the team. Everyone has to support each other, and transparency is important. This plays a big role in employee retention because many people have actually left the team in the past but wanted to come back. Why? Simply because they appreciate certain things we do in our team, which is really positive. We need to truly understand this as a team and make sure we keep improving so the overall work environment is attractive and pleasant.”
This thinking also includes Haas’s new two-story motorhome, which debuted with the 2025 European season and replaced the previous, smaller one: “Some ask me about this new motorhome. It might not seem directly relevant, but in the end, it is. You have the company car, the pension plan, the factory environment, the track environment, the flights you choose. Everything matters because the competition is so tight that every aspect makes a difference,” Komatsu concluded.
The 2025 Constructors’ battle to build an even stronger foundation
These considerations are even more relevant now as F1 teams face the challenges of the new technical regulations debuting next season. In this context, it is essential for Haas to secure the best possible final position in the Constructors’ Championship, where they are currently tied for sixth place with Racing Point, but also closely pursued by Aston Martin and Kick Sauber, to obtain the richest prize money possible.
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