If there’s one team that is certainly exceeding pre-season expectations, it’s undoubtedly Haas. The American team has been consistently battling with Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin and Williams for points positions over the past few weekends, steadily closing the gap with Racing Bulls, who, after Singapore, are just three points ahead. Since Guenther Steiner’s departure, there’s been a sense that many things have changed under Ayao Komatsu, especially in the team’s working methodology.
Haas: Positive Balance on Developments
The Japanese team principal adopted a different approach right from the start, particularly in the analysis of the updates brought to the track, even if they didn’t initially deliver the expected results. “The first package met only 50% of expectations, while the second exceeded predictions, and the third arrived one race late. So, the first phase of development was only half as good as expected. However, the atmosphere remained calm, without blame, and the team worked together,” said the Japanese engineer. Gene Haas’ team also showed an excellent approach to race weekends, particularly the more complicated ones like Baku and Singapore, where the balance between mechanics and aerodynamics is crucial. Especially in Singapore, the team was lost on Friday, but thanks to the engineers’ data analysis and the drivers’ feedback, by Saturday, the car was refined to the point of being able to fight for points again. This was also helped by progress in weather condition analysis: “We were completely off track on Friday. But no one panicked. Now within the team, we trust ourselves to find a solution to any problem. Instead of frantically modifying the car, we’ve also incorporated track development and temperature differences between day and night into our vehicle refinement work, gradually working toward a solution. In the end, we got the most out of the car.”
It’s important to note that, unlike the top teams, Haas doesn’t have a support team at the remote garage in Banbury or a simulator to assist engineers during the night to improve the car. Ayao Komatsu addressed this point, announcing that they are working on it but also warned of potential downsides: “We’re planning to build something like this, but it has to be done step by step. If such a department only creates more confusion and, in the end, those at home and those at the track argue over who has the best ideas, nothing is gained.”
Drivers Confident in Haas’ Pace: Consistency and More Developments Coming
Focusing on the Singapore weekend, Nico Hulkenberg qualified his VF-24 in sixth position, eventually finishing the race in ninth, behind Fernando Alonso. The strategy wasn’t perfect, as he was undercut by the Spaniard, but in the second stint, the German proved he could hold off Sergio Perez’s Red Bull and Franco Colapinto’s Williams: “Happy to score points, that’s what matters, of course. From that perspective, good. However, I think some aspects of the strategy need to be reviewed. But other than that, it was a clean race—obviously not very eventful, but rather stressful, holding off the Red Bull throughout the second stint.” At one point after the pit stop, the former Renault driver had a few laps to attack Alonso but couldn’t, mainly due to the dirty air from the car ahead and the track layout: “It’s difficult to overtake with these cars, now when you get close, you suffer from dirty air, and the braking zones are so small because we brake so late—it’s very hard to overtake.”
Kevin Magnussen’s race unfortunately ended early due to an unlucky puncture. The Dane is looking ahead and is optimistic for the US Grand Prix in Austin, the team’s home race: “I had a puncture. We’ve had good pace in the last few races, and we’re in great shape with the car. We have an update coming for Austin. We’re confident for the rest of the season.” The hunt for sixth place in the Constructors’ Championship is open, with just three points separating them from Racing Bulls. The team and drivers believe in it. “It was fantastic to walk away with two points, and scoring points in three consecutive races is very good. The consistency is there. We’re only three points behind RB with six races still to go. We’ve also extended the gap by two points over Williams, so mission accomplished,” said Komatsu.
Nico Hulkenberg is confident they can score more points in Austin, where more updates are expected: “I think everyone on the team strongly believes we can challenge them and fight them. We scored a point last weekend [with Oliver Bearman]. We should have scored more, and now with six races left, it’s all to play for. Obviously, they won’t give it to us. They’ll try to fight back, but it’s just a race to the finish. But I think we have good momentum. Besides qualifying, we’re competitive in races, and in Austin, we’ll bring further updates. So it’s encouraging, and I think some circuits that suit our characteristics are coming up for us and our package, and I’m looking forward to bringing home a couple more points.”
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