Haas F1 – Syndication Server

Komatsu still expects Haas to be at the back in Bahrain

New team principal Ayao Komatsu says Haas expects to still be at the back of the grid at the Bahrain Grand Prix because it lost so much development time with the VF-24 (pictured above). Haas had a quick car in qualifying last year but was struggling …

New team principal Ayao Komatsu says Haas expects to still be at the back of the grid at the Bahrain Grand Prix because it lost so much development time with the VF-24 (pictured above).

Haas had a quick car in qualifying last year but was struggling for race pace, and opted to follow the widely adopted Red Bull concept of aerodynamic package in the latter half of the year. A major upgrade was introduced at the United States Grand Prix at Circuit of The Americas that ultimately didn’t improve car performance, and while Komatsu says that provided valuable data he also points to the impact it had on work for the 2024 car.

“Out of the gates in Bahrain … I still think we’re going to be towards the back of the grid, if not last,” Komatsu said. “Since I’ve become team principal, I’ve spent a lot of time talking to managers — both in the UK and Italy — and they’re excited because it’s an opportunity to improve and there are areas of improvement everywhere.

“The reason our launch-spec car is not going to be quick enough in Bahrain is not because of the quality of the people we have here, but it’s because we started late and then we stopped for two months to do the Austin upgrade. It really diverted resource, so we lost time there, but the team is finding good gains in the wind tunnel so that’s positive and in terms of characteristics, it’s going in the right direction.”

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In explaining his hopes for how car development will move Haas forward during the season, Komatsu was critical of how the team’s upgrade plans have been handled in the past.

“The focus is to have a good test program for Bahrain so that we come away from the test having quality data for the team to analyze and understand which direction to develop the car. This means understanding the strength and weakness of the VF-24 accurately, then put a coherent plan together to produce updates on the car, which hasn’t happened previously.

“Drivers will play a stronger role too. Last year, in terms of subjective feedback from drivers, their understanding of what the weakness of the car was clear; however, we weren’t then able to reflect that in our car development program. With the changes we made in the team, we aim to address this issue with our drivers more in the loop of development paths so that nothing gets lost.

“As engineers we have all the data from many sensors, but the one thing we can’t do is drive the car and feel what’s going on. So, we’ve got to be able to understand and react to drivers’ feedback better.”

Haas kicks off F1 launch season with VF-24

Haas has become the first Formula 1 team to reveal its 2024 car with the digital launch of the VF-24 ahead of its shakedown at Silverstone on Feb. 11. The new car was only shown via digital renders released by Haas on Friday, with an evolutionary …

Haas has become the first Formula 1 team to reveal its 2024 car with the digital launch of the VF-24 ahead of its shakedown at Silverstone on Feb. 11.

The new car was only shown via digital renders released by Haas on Friday, with an evolutionary approach to the car that was developed last season and a similar tweak to the predominantly black livery. New team principal Ayao Komatsu says the car is not a radical departure that is likely to move the team rapidly forward, but hopes it provides a platform for progress.

“We’re realistic about our expectations for the VF-24 to start but it’s still an exciting moment in any Formula 1 season to showcase the car,” Komatsu said. “There’s a lot of work ahead of us to make progress and increase our performance but everyone here is highly motivated and eager to get on track with the VF-24.

“I know we’ll be maximizing our time in Bahrain with all the various items we need to push through. Bottom line, we can’t wait to get going and get the season underway.”

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Komatsu says the 2024 car is a further step on from the upgraded design that was introduced at the United States Grand Prix last October, with bigger changes able to be made under the bodywork.

“In terms of physical changes, as everyone knows, when we made the upgrade in Austin that was the concept towards this year’s car — but because we had the physical limitation of the side impact structure, rad-duct arrangement, and cooling arrangement, we couldn’t do the full-blown VF-24-type-concept. I knew exactly where we were going for this year, but everyone saw a preview in Austin.”

Haas finished bottom of the constructors’ championship last season and the result led to Guenther Steiner’s departure as team principal, with team owner Gene Haas keen to measure any improvements through the season.

“I’m looking forward to seeing the VF-24 running and racing — a sentiment I know I share with our partners and indeed the entire team,” Haas said. “In Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen, we also know we’ve got a great pair of drivers behind the wheel, their experience will prove invaluable again as we develop our program through the year.

“We’ve used the off-season to put the processes in place to be better and ultimately improve our overall performance. Soon we get to see how we’re doing.”

Chambers believes F1 Academy ‘opens a lot more doors’

American racer Chloe Chambers believes her move into F1 Academy with support from Haas “opens a lot more doors” to future career progression. Chambers has been signed by Haas as the driver who will run in the team’s colors in F1 Academy this year, …

American racer Chloe Chambers believes her move into F1 Academy with support from Haas “opens a lot more doors” to future career progression.

Chambers has been signed by Haas as the driver who will run in the team’s colors in F1 Academy this year, with all ten constructors doing the same. The all-female category was established last year and had its finale at Circuit of the Americas, but will be part of the F1 support schedule for all seven of its 2024 rounds and Chambers says the potential exposure is why the series was so attractive.

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“I had tried to pursue F1 Academy this time last year actually, and unfortunately I was a little bit too late on getting things going for that so I ended up missing out on the 2023 season of F1 Academy,” Chambers told Speed City Broadcasting. “So I ended up going off and doing some sportscar racing in the States, did very well in that, and then sort of in the middle of the year we started going back and thinking ‘maybe we should try and go back into F1 Academy again because the opportunities it can bring are massive’.

“Especially in 2024 with them changing it to be on Formula 1 race weekends as well as live streamed on all the Formula 1 channels, it just opens a lot more doors that weren’t really there in 2023. So I pushed really hard to get into it for this year, went out to Spain to do some testing with the teams and show myself to them so they were at least aware of me and the fact I was trying to pursue it.

“Ultimately we got into talks with A14 Management – who is now managing me – and they were a big help because they have so many connections over in Europe that my dad and I don’t have. So they helped a lot with getting everything sorted for me and I ended up getting paired with Haas F1 Team, which obviously makes a lot of sense.

“It’s the only American Formula 1 team on the grid and I’m an American driver, so that pairing really just made sense with me. Obviously who would say no with being partnered with a Formula 1 team? So I graciously accepted their offer, and I’ll be racing with Campos Racing at seven of the Formula 1 races this year.”

Chambers says the Haas deal extends beyond the F1 Academy backing too, and that she’ll spend time with the team at select other events.

“Part of my deal with Haas is that I will get to experience the inside of the team on a race weekend. I will obviously be at the tracks during the F1 race weekends where I am racing, but I also will get the opportunity to go to a few of the other races where I won’t racing. So I’ll be able to be with the team throughout the entire weekend, sit in on driver debriefs, watch the on-track action with the engineers, and kind of immerse myself so I understand how it works.”

Chambers doesn’t see the departure of Guenther Steiner as team principal as a negative development, after being welcomed by new team principal Ayao Komatsu.

“It’s cool. Guenther was such a face and a personality, especially from Drive to Survive, and I’ve seen some of the comments saying ‘Oh we want Guenther back’, but also you have to think about it from the perspective of the team.

“They did a really good interview with Gene Haas … and basically the way he said it was it was time for a change in the higher tiers of the team because the team had finished last place in the constructors’ championship two of the last three years. So it really does make sense to change something around with the team to try and figure out what the problem is.

“So as much as Guenther is a really cool personality, very funny, I think it will be good for Haas in the long run.”

Haas tired of being ‘humiliated every weekend,’ highlights need for aero advances

Gene Haas says he no longer wants to be “humiliated every weekend” and wants to see further changes to his Formula 1 team’s aerodynamic department, following the departures of Guenther Steiner and Simone Resta. Steiner was replaced as team principal …

Steiner was replaced as team principal on Wednesday, with Haas making the surprise move of promoted director of track engineering Ayao Komatsu into the role. Technical director Resta has also left — although RACER understands that decision had already been made prior to Steiner’s departure — and the team owner says there was a clear area where Haas needs to improve.

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“I think we’ve actually got a great formula here,” Haas told the official Formula 1 website. “We have Ferrari engines which probably have more power than anybody right now. We have Ferrari hardware, we have a good chassis. I talk to a lot of the engineers and I think our biggest failing is aero; our aero program needs work. When you’re at the track and you’re humiliated every weekend, I’m going to stop taking that one anymore.”

Haas says the decision to part ways with Steiner, who has led the team since its inception a decade ago, was solely down to results after finishing at the bottom of the constructors’ championship in 2023.

“It came down to performance. Here we are in our eighth year, over 160 races — we have never had a podium. The last couple of years we’ve been 10th or ninth [sic — Haas was eighth in 2022].

“I’m not sitting here saying it’s Guenther’s fault or anything like that, but it just seems like this was an appropriate time to make a change and try a different direction, because it doesn’t seem like continuing with what we had is really going to work.

“It is [hard], I like Guenther — he’s a really nice person, a really good personality. We had a tough end to the year. I don’t understand that, I really don’t. Those are good questions to ask Guenther, what went wrong. At the end of the day, it’s about performance. I have no interest in being 10th anymore.

“We need to do better. It’s easier to keep sponsors and attract sponsors if we’re a mid-pack team and not a dead last team. That’s my perspective on it. At the same time, if we can run a little faster, we’ll get more FOM [Formula One Management] money, which will make life a bit easier.

“It’s really all about winning. We have a great team, we have great engines, we have really great drivers. There’s no reason why we are 10th. I can’t understand how we can be with all the equipment and people we have.”

Haas to split car specifications between drivers in Las Vegas

Haas will run two different specifications of car for Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen at the Las Vegas Grand Prix this weekend, based on driver preference. Guenther Steiner’s team introduced a major update at the United States Grand Prix last …

Haas will run two different specifications of car for Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen at the Las Vegas Grand Prix this weekend, based on driver preference.

Guenther Steiner’s team introduced a major update at the United States Grand Prix last month but still found itself struggling with many of the race pace issues that had impacted its season. While the upgrade has had an impact, Hulkenberg prefers the previous specification of car so Steiner says the team is allowing the drivers to choose the parts they want to run in Las Vegas.

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“The main drive behind this was Nico feels that for him the old spec suits him better, and Kevin is the opposite,” Steiner said. “We’ve opted to give them what they want, we have two races to go and nothing to lose, so we’ve tried to do what we can.

“We could discuss gathering data, but we’ve got enough data, it’s a decision based on what each driver likes more than anything else. It puts them in a comfortable position so that they’re as happy as they can be with the car they get.”

Away from the sporting challenge of the new race in Las Vegas, Steiner is impressed simply by the attempt to host a grand prix on the Strip, and expand Formula 1’s footprint in the United States.

“I think we all have an expectation, but we know what Las Vegas is about. It’s hard to imagine exactly what it will be like, but it will be a very cool event and something completely different from anything done before in Formula 1.

“To put such effort into racing in a city like Las Vegas is challenging, to say the least, and to make it happen a few years ago was impossible to think about, let alone say. Let’s see what it will be like, but it will surely set a standard for a lot of things in the sport going forward.

“I think it’s fantastic to have three races in the States, especially as the American team. Five or 10 years ago, who’d have thought that we’d have more than one race in the US, now we’ve got three and they’re all very different events – as they would be if we were racing in different continents, not just country. I think it’s good for Formula 1 and the American fans who are coming more to watch and support.

“The standout point for me is the difference between each race. You go to Austin, which is a more ‘traditional’ race with lots of hardcore fans, and then you go to Miami where it’s party central, and then let’s see what Vegas brings. We know it won’t ever be sleeping and we’re racing at night, which is completely different again.”

Haas USGP review hearing set for Wednesday

Haas will have the chance to have its right of review into the results of the United States Grand Prix heard on Wednesday, with Red Bull, Aston Martin and Williams all involved. Guenther Steiner’s team lodged its petition for a right of review over …

Haas will have the chance to have its right of review into the results of the United States Grand Prix heard on Wednesday, with Red Bull, Aston Martin and Williams all involved.

Guenther Steiner’s team lodged its petition for a right of review over the Sao Paulo Grand Prix weekend, with RACER understanding the matter relates to track limits violations and the way they were policed. The FIA has now set a hearing for 1500 CET (0900 ET) on Wednesday, when it will hold a virtual meeting to discuss whether Haas has found a significant and relevant new element that was not available to the stewards at the time the decision was made.

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Three other teams have been summoned as part of that hearing, with Red Bull, Aston Martin, and Williams all named. The Williams connection is obvious, with the petition citing the document that outlined the stewards’ decision not to give Alex Albon a further penalty for exceeding track limits at Turn 6 in Austin.

“Based on the video footage available (which did not include CCTV), the stewards determine, whilst there might be some indication for possible track limit infringements in Turn 6, the evidence at hand is not sufficient to accurately and consistently conclude that any breaches occurred and therefore take no further action,” the decision read.

Albon finished ninth after already receiving a five-second time penalty, but would have been given a second penalty for that infringement had the stewards decided a breach had occurred. The Williams driver was classified under five seconds ahead of Nico Hulkenberg in 11th.

Another team had previously flagged Sergio Perez exceeding track limits at Turn 6 but without taking the matter further, while from an Aston Martin perspective, Lance Stroll was classified seventh.

Should Haas be able to convince the FIA that there is a significant and relevant new element, then that will lead to a further hearing that will be convened in due course.

Haas petitions to review USGP results due to track limits issues

Haas has lodged a petition for a right to review the result of the United States Grand Prix, nearly two weeks after the race. Teams are allowed up to 14 days to lodge such a review, and Haas must convince the FIA that it has a significant and …

Haas has lodged a petition for a right to review the result of the United States Grand Prix, nearly two weeks after the race.

Teams are allowed up to 14 days to lodge such a review, and Haas must convince the FIA that it has a significant and relevant new element that was not available to the stewards at the time the decision was made. RACER understands the right of review request is based on track limits violations that went unpunished in the race at Circuit of The Americas.

It is understood at the time that another team other than Haas had flagged a number of track limits to the stewards relating to Sergio Perez — who was ultimately classified fourth after the disqualifications of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc — but the matter was not taken further.

Alex Albon was also investigated for leaving the track after already getting a 5s time penalty for such an infringement, but the stewards stated after the race: “The evidence at hand is not sufficient to accurately and consistently conclude that any breaches occurred and therefore take no further action.”

Haas finished with a car in 11th in the form of Nico Hulkenberg at COTA, just over 3s behind Albon in ninth.

The FIA has yet to state when Haas’ petition will be heard. Should the team convince the governing body of its new evidence, then a separate investigation will be opened into the matter.

Bearman impresses in FP1 appearance with Haas

Ollie Bearman delivered a faultless first appearance in modern Formula 1 machinery at the Mexico City Grand Prix, according to Haas’ director of engineering Ayao Komatsu. The Ferrari young driver was rewarded for a strong rookie season in Formula 2 …

Ollie Bearman delivered a faultless first appearance in modern Formula 1 machinery at the Mexico City Grand Prix, according to Haas’ director of engineering Ayao Komatsu.

The Ferrari young driver was rewarded for a strong rookie season in Formula 2 by being given two FP1 outings for Haas in Mexico and Abu Dhabi this year. At just 18 years old, Bearman stated on Thursday that he would simply be trying to make a good impression, and after an FP1 where was 0.3s off teammate Nico Hulkenberg — by far the closest gap of the rookie drivers — Komatsu was suitably impressed.

“I don’t think you can fault him; he’s done really well,” Komatsu said. “But all the way from the initial preparation, he’s been very professional — very, very easy to deal with in every single process. I have nothing to complain about.

“And then today, with the calmness, he understood procedures, he understood the objectives of every single run. He didn’t put a foot wrong, really. I mean, he didn’t maximize the soft tire [but] that lap time difference — Nico’s lap wasn’t great either so you can’t read too much into it — but in terms of his feedback, it was really good, engagement with his engineers, really good job. Really impressed.”

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Komatsu says Bearman has exceeded expectations, with the first appearance potentially setting him up for more outings in 2024.

“We have got another session planned with him in Abu Dhabi, so I’m really looking forward to that, and then hopefully more sessions next year as well. It’s very promising,” he said.

Bearman himself was content with his first appearance on an F1 weekend, although he felt he left lap time on the table with a moment in the middle sector on his first soft-tire run.

“My first goal was to have a clean session, and we did that, which is the main thing,” Bearman said. “I’m really happy to have just delivered a clean session to start with. Second of all, I got up to speed quite fast; I felt I had good confidence with the car. Yeah, more or less I’m happy.

“There’s always a few things that…it was my first time doing everything, my first time on the soft tire and my first long runs. I will do better the second time, but for a first time I was quite happy.

“I wanted to do a good [lap]. I wanted to go to what I felt was the limit. I was a bit weak in Turn 7 and the performance on the hard tire, so I decided, ‘I have confidence with the car, let’s see what it can do.’ I was a bit out of shape out of [Turn 7], and then that whole sequence was in trouble, so I had to abort that lap, unfortunately. For sure with the soft that we have, the first lap is the fastest, so a bit unlucky.”

Bearman warned against FP1 errors ahead of possible Haas reserve opportunity

Ollie Bearman could become a reserve option for Haas after Pietro Fittipaldi’s full-time IndyCar drive was confirmed this week, but the 18-year-old has been warned against making headlines for the wrong reasons on his FP1 debut at the Mexico City …

Fittipaldi will join Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing in 2024, limiting his ability to carry out the full-time reserve duties he’s held at Haas in recent years. While team principal Guenther Steiner says the team will look to retain Fittipaldi in some form, he acknowledges another option is likely to be needed and Ferrari young driver Bearman could be one.

“We have to figure that one out,” Steiner said. “I’m speaking with Fred [Vasseur]…about reserve drivers next year but we haven’t come to a conclusion,” Steiner said. “I don’t think we lose [Pietro] completely; we will look into what’s possible and what’s not.

“Obviously we know the calendars. We had a chat today about it, and it also depends on how much testing — because in IndyCar they do a bit more testing than we do here — but Pietro is part of the family. If we don’t have him around we miss something.

“We’re looking into what we can do along with Ferrari, which reserve driver they have available and things like this.”

While Steiner has been impressed with Bearman’s approach so far, he’s warned the rookie not to try and prove too much on his first FP1 outing for the team.

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“You’re always a little bit nervous,” Steiner said. “I think — and hopefully I’m proven right tomorrow — he knows that the biggest mistake he can do is overdo it.

“I explained to him that we are always judged by the things you do badly, not the things you do good, because if you do everything right nobody will remember, but if you crash the car on your first outing in F1 in an FP1, that will be on your resume for the rest of your life…if you ever make it into F1 because of that! I made him aware of that and I think he’s smart enough to know that he doesn’t want to do anything stupid.”

Bearman himself says it’s advice he’s taken onboard as he prepares for his FP1 debut during an F1 weekend.

“Of course, like Guenther said, there’s no positives, nothing to win on a Friday — it’s a mandatory session and I just need to bring the car back,” Bearman said. “But at the same time I’m really excited to get going. It’s going to be really fun. I’ve already driven an F1 car in Fiorano so I’ve got a taste of what it’s like at full gas, and this will just be building into it and hopefully bringing some useful data for the team as well.

“No targets; no targets from anyone — even from myself. I think it would be silly to set any expectations. My first target is just to enjoy it. I’ve had it drummed into me a lot now — there’s nothing to win from here. Just do a solid job, build up step-by-step and enjoy it as well. That’s my target.”

The PREMA Formula 2 driver would also not be drawn on any reserve role hopes, but says he is keen to take advantage of being in the paddock so early in his career.

“It’s really cool to be here so young, just to have my foot in the door,” he said. “I think the main goal of this weekend is to get to know people and show them what I can do, and come across as a good guy. It helps that I’m young; I’ve got a lot of time to get here.

“Obviously it’s great news for Pietro to get a full-time drive. My primary focus is F2 and it will continue to be F2, but anything on top of that is obviously a bonus. No pressure — just try and do a good performance here and let’s see.”

Haas upgrade hasn’t worked as expected, Steiner admits

Haas team principal Guenther Steiner says the technical upgrade introduced at the United States Grand Prix is not working as expected so far. A change of concept to follow the Red Bull approach was brought to Austin this weekend as Haas delivered …

Haas team principal Guenther Steiner says the technical upgrade introduced at the United States Grand Prix is not working as expected so far.

A change of concept to follow the Red Bull approach was brought to Austin this weekend as Haas delivered its largest in-season upgrade ever in order to learn more about its direction for next year. With just one practice session to learn about the new package before parc ferme regulations kicked in, the team was keen to temper expectations but Steiner says the pace shown in the sprint meant it was still underperforming.

“It didn’t go to plan today,” Steiner said. “We’ve got more work to do but initially we’re not very happy with what’s happened, so we have to see how we tackle tomorrow. We found a few things and went in the wrong direction, but it’s difficult to jump to a conclusion after one practice, two qualifying sessions and one short race. At the moment, we have to find more as the upgrade’s not done what we expected.”

Both drivers dropped out in SQ1 and then struggled overall in the race with Kevin Magnussen crossing the line in 18th place following Lance Stroll’s retirement.

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“It wasn’t a great sprint — the pace dropped off a lot, so we’ll investigate tonight and assess what we think,” Magnussen said. “We can’t change anything for tomorrow, so it is what it is, and we’ll see what we can do. I got a decent start and a decent first lap, then stayed there for a few laps before the well-known cycle of getting overtaken and the tires dropping off started.”

While Magnussen saw familiar issues, teammate Nico Hulkenberg was slightly more positive after a 15th-place finish in the sprint.

“It feels like the first real running with the car, to be honest, because in practice there’s so many things going on,” Hulkenberg said. “Then, there were just two qualifying sessions which were also short, just two runs each time, or less. It’s good to get some proper mileage with it, some long-run data and some feel for it.

“Obviously, it doesn’t look too good right now, but there’s more for us to analyze and understand, and more to discover with this package. At a sprint weekend it’s difficult to explore that and unlock it.”