Reflecting on the 2024 season, Haas fielded the most versatile car in the midfield, a feature that made the VF-24 competitive across a wide range of circuits. Looking at the championship’s progress, it’s clear that the 2024 car scored points in 14 out of 24 races, with seven additional 11th-place finishes, right on the edge of the top 10.
However, Haas didn’t always fully exploit the potential of its car, missing opportunities where better results could have been achieved or compromising the weekend. A recent example was in Qatar during qualifying, when an incorrect engine map led to Nico Hulkenberg’s elimination in Q1, after having been in the points the previous day.
Missed opportunities led Haas management to overhaul the engineering staff that follows the cars on track during race weekends, hoping to assemble a team capable of maximizing opportunities and minimizing errors.
As confirmed by Team Principal Ayao Komatsu during a press meeting ahead of the new season, the changes to the team’s structure are significant, not only because several people will be replaced, but also because it will strengthen previously uncovered roles. The changes will affect only the on-track personnel, while the technical staff at the factory will remain unchanged.
Two new track engineers for Ocon and Bearman
At the top of the list of changes to the American team’s structure are the two track engineers that Komatsu has decided to promote internally from their previous roles as performance engineers. Gary Gannon, the engineer who worked with Mick Schumacher and Nico Hulkenberg, left the team to join Aston Martin, while Mark Slade, former engineer for Kevin Magnussen, left before the final race in Abu Dhabi.
Taking over from the two previous track engineers will be Laura Mueller, who will work alongside Esteban Ocon, and Ronan O’Hare, who will work with Oliver Bearman. Both were performance engineers until last year, a role that is generally seen as the step before becoming a track engineer.
Mueller, who will become the first female track engineer in F1, began her career at Haas as a simulator engineer, while O’Hare worked as a performance engineer for the former NIO Formula E team and Williams until 2022, with roles related to vehicle dynamics at Toro Rosso and Mercedes.
New Head of Strategy and New Sporting Director
Another key aspect of the restructuring is related to strategies, where there was an internal feeling that changes were necessary to move forward after some mistakes in recent years. The new head of race strategy will be Carine Cridelich, who will join the team on March 1st after completing her gardening leave from RB.
But the changes don’t end there, as Mark Lowe has been appointed as Haas’ new sporting director, a role that didn’t exist at the team before and was previously covered by Peter Crolla, the former team manager who left at the end of 2024.
Haas felt the need for someone familiar with the regulations, which led them to choose an experienced person who could assist the team. Lowe was selected for two reasons: he has already been involved in F1, and he also knows Haas well, having worked with them in the past before dedicating himself to other projects.
Additionally, Francesco Nenci will join as head of race engineers, a role previously held by Komatsu. However, when Komatsu was promoted to Team Principal, replacing Guenther Steiner, the role remained vacant for a year, and Komatsu felt it was crucial to find an experienced person to fill it and assist with on-track operations. Nenci has worked with Toyota, Sauber, and Marussia, with experience as chief engineer for Audi in Formula E.
A Necessary Change, Important to Make it in 2025
“Our technical team at the factory has remained really stable,” Komatsu said in an interview with several media outlets, including Motorsport.com. Given the excellent results achieved in 2024, it was decided not to change anything on the technical front, with Andrea De Zordo, Tom Coupland, and Jonathan Heal maintaining their roles as technical director, chief designer, and deputy designer.
“What has changed is the on-track team. It’s a huge change, but I felt it was one of the weakest areas last year. As the car became competitive, it exposed the need for changes. We left too many points on the table.”
“Many times, under pressure, we didn’t perform as well as we should have. But, again, it’s not just about people, but also the amount of training we can provide.” In fact, many engineers faced certain scenarios for the first time directly on track, which can lead to errors. On this front, Komatsu believes that the TPC tests, which Haas will complete for the first time this year thanks to new funding, will serve as a training ground.
The tests will help form new track personnel and strengthen the existing team: “Now we have these opportunities [private tests with cars that are at least two years old], and we can also simulate certain scenarios. We’ll do more before the start of the season. We’ll be better prepared.” Currently, the personnel who handle testing are the same as those who follow the team during races, but the goal is to grow and form two separate teams: one for TPC tests and one for the Grands Prix.
The changes to the staff had actually been planned for a while, but were always postponed. However, this time, they decided to move forward, allowing the new figures to adapt to their respective roles before the major overhaul in 2026, when the technical regulations will change.
On one hand, Haas has chosen to recruit new figures from outside, such as the head of strategy, while on the other hand, they’ve promoted from within for certain roles, as in the case of the two new track engineers who will assist the drivers. There were various considerations behind this decision.
“There are pros and cons. Because even people who come from outside have long gardening periods. If there’s someone who’s ‘wow, this person is perfect, and we should wait 12 months or more,’ then that’s fine. But they must clearly be better than Laura or Ronan,” Komatsu said, referring to the two new track engineers, who were promoted internally to replace Mark Slade and Gary Gannon, both of whom left the team at the end of 2024.
“If the internal candidate, who has less experience, but in terms of potential, I think that in a year could be almost the same or even better [than an external one], then I prefer to invest internally.”
The other new development is that, as confirmed by Komatsu, the team is considering a possible move of headquarters to England: the plan is to present a project to owner Gene Haas by the end of January.
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