Komatsu and the Tsunoda effect: “After a dip in popularity, interest in F1 is growing again in Japan”. Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu highlights the growing F1 interest in Japan.

Haas brings a new floor to Suzuka
In Japan, Haas didn’t just show off a floral livery, but also brought a new floor in an attempt to address the unexpected issues that emerged in Melbourne during the season opener.

During the team principals’ press conference, Ayao Komatsu gave a provisional thumbs-up to the new updates, despite lacking confirmation from the wind tunnel, though he prefers to remain cautious and not fully rule out the problems that have affected the Haas: “This morning, in FP1, we didn’t experience the problem we had in Melbourne, but that doesn’t mean we’ve solved it. There’s still a long way to go. As always with this generation of cars, when you fix one issue, another one appears.” – he pointed out after Friday practice at the Suzuka circuit.

Ayao Komatsu was also asked about F1’s popularity in Japan, and the Haas team boss acknowledged that it’s currently a positive moment for the sport in the Land of the Rising Sun: “After a period of declining popularity for Formula 1 in Japan, I think interest is coming back. What Yuki Tsunoda has been doing in recent years hasn’t gone unnoticed, and the fact that he’s been promoted to a top team obviously made headlines here in Japan. It’s a combination of factors though – even the shift of the GP to the spring helps. I also heard the Red Bull event in Tokyo was a big success.” – the Haas team boss concluded.