Haas’ team boss, Ayao Komatsu, feels pretty confident about resolving the issues with their car’s bodywork before the Australian Grand Prix next weekend. He admits they went a bit “too aggressive” with their 2025 design.
During the first filming day of the year at Silverstone, Esteban Ocon’s car lost its right sidepod cover. Meanwhile, Oliver Bearman had to cut his pre-season testing short when a part of the engine cover on the left side came off. According to Komatsu, these hiccups stemmed from their ambitions with the VF-25, where they aimed to squeeze out maximum performance.
Komatsu candidly shares, “We were just too aggressive, and we understand why. We’ll fix it for Melbourne. It’s not ideal, obviously. We encountered this on the filming day, and then again on the final morning. It’s something that shouldn’t happen, our alterations compared to last year were just a bit over the top.”
Even with his blunt assessment, Komatsu can’t help but express his frustration, especially since the limited pre-season testing was crucial as Haas integrated two new drivers into the team.
He explained to SiriusXM, “The first couple of days were solid. But the final morning, not so much. That bodywork glitch significantly affected Ollie’s run. It kept the car from being in a proper state for about 75% of the morning. It was like working on the wrong car. In the afternoon, we managed to sort things out, and Esteban got some representative work done. But losing one out of six sessions? That’s major. Still, we just have to fix it for Australia, and I’m fully confident we will.”
Though there’s undeniably work to be done before heading to Melbourne, Komatsu sees potential in Haas’ pace, believing it can keep up with teams like Williams and Alpine. These teams have piqued his interest as strong competitors within the midfield.
“Williams looks fast and Alpine as well. I’m not entirely sure, but I think we’re in the mix. The competition’s tight… it’s a real blend, but I’d say we’re somewhere in there.”
