Haas’ season turnaround: from Melbourne struggles to Silverstone improvements
The current Formula 1 regulations are nearing the end of their cycle, and the midfield battle is becoming increasingly competitive. This made the start of the 2025 season particularly challenging for Haas, as team principal Ayao Komatsu admitted he felt a moment of shock when seeing his drivers struggle during the opening free practice sessions in Australia.
The problem at the start of the season
The main issue centered on the car’s chassis. At high speeds, the VF-25 exhibited instability, especially through turns 9 and 10 at the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne. This problem had not emerged during pre-season testing, forcing the team to re-evaluate the car after the season had already begun.
To better understand the issue, Komatsu explained that Haas needed to take a step back. The team revisited the final updates from the 2024 car before re-examining the development process for the 2025 VF-25 chassis.
The limits of testing
According to Ayao Komatsu, part of the problem was due to inherent limitations in wind tunnel testing. The team had to carefully consider how the track correlated with the car’s behavior at higher speeds, making it difficult to accurately evaluate potential floor design issues. Many teams reportedly face similar challenges.
With limited time to analyze the instability properly, Haas had to send the updated components into production without conducting detailed wind tunnel tests.
Komatsu explains the solution
Komatsu highlighted that tackling such problems can either ruin a season or serve as the motivation to improve and catch up with competitors. “In simple terms, it’s impossible to fully test the current car on the ground in the wind tunnel because the belt would break, and some conditions simply cannot be replicated,” Komatsu explained to Autosport.com.
“We had a parameter we believed was valid for evaluation. Last year, the problem didn’t appear, but many other teams, using different parameters, faced a situation similar to ours. Until the problem emerges on track, it cannot be addressed. For the specific issue we had, we simply didn’t have the methodology to predict it using CFD and properly assess the wind tunnel results.”
“After noticing the problem in Melbourne, we literally had to take a step back from everything we had done in developing the car from the end of the VF-24 to the VF-25. Our metric wasn’t precise enough and the threshold was too aggressive. Once we understood this, the focus shifted to modifying the car to reduce that effect, which we implemented for the first time at Suzuka.”
“I wouldn’t call it a blind attempt; it was a plausible theory. We didn’t have time to perform a wind tunnel test, so we examined everything and concluded: ‘Based on our best understanding, this is likely the problem.’”
Progress through testing and updates
Without modifications, Haas had a strong weekend in China, a circuit with few high-speed corners. Suzuka, however, was a major concern. Once the update was introduced, the team observed improvements: Oliver Bearman finished 10th, demonstrating better performance on similar circuits. Retrospective tests confirmed the validity of the team’s hypothesis.
“We conducted two tests at Suzuka, then later tested the component in the wind tunnel and observed improvements,” Komatsu said. “It was a theory, but until we raced at Suzuka, we couldn’t be certain. What pleased me most was that we were correct: the assumption was right. This gave us the confidence to continue refining the car for the next development stage at Imola. While it may not have significantly increased our outright pace, it made the car more robust under those conditions. This improvement gradually allowed us to increase performance up to the levels we saw at Silverstone.”
Komatsu and his team demonstrated that even the most unexpected setbacks can become the catalyst for improvement, a lesson Haas applied successfully throughout the 2025 season.
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