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Haas Team Principal Ayao Komatsu has revealed the secret behind the team’s strong showing in the first half of 2024.
The team ended 2023 at the bottom of the standings, and the car suffered from a lack of pace all season. The second half of 2023 proved particularly dire, with no points-scoring finishes.
Haas’s disappointing season resulted in the dramatic exit of former Team Principal Guenther Steiner. Former Haas Technical Director Ayao Komatsu took over and has overseen a reversal in fortune.
Ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix, the team currently sits P7 in the standings on 27 points. It has already comfortably surpassed its 2023 total of 12 through a series of strong results, including P6 for Nico Hulkenberg in Austria.
The races leading up to the summer break proved more challenging. Hulkenberg and teammate Kevin Magnussen failed to score any points at Silverstone or SpaВ?as the VF-24 struggled for pace.
An ambitious target
Despite the difficulties of the last two races, as reported by formula1.com, Komatsu has revealed an ambitious target for the second half of the season.
Speaking team in a Haas recorded video interview. Komatsu is bullish in his ambitions, targeting further points finishes in F1’s competitive midfield:
“Looking at where we are now, we are seven points behind P6, RB, so we have to go for trying to get P6 in the championship. That’s our target for the rest of the season.
“Straight after shutdown, in Zandvoort, see if we can perform and then get back to scoring points. Budapest was tough, and Spa was tough, and we are looking into now why we couldn’t perform in those two races, so [we can gain an] understanding of that.
“It’s too late to then influence the development, because development for the rest of the season is done now, but just in terms of how we set the car up for the track, how we go about managing tyres, etc.
“Any learning we can take from Budapest and Spa would be beneficial. It’s really a continuous process, but the sporting target will be trying to fight for P6 in the championship.”
When asked about what is aiding the team’s success, Komatsu praised his team’s ability to pull together in difficult moments:
“Honestly, I think a real sense of teamwork.
“I think we are doing much better as a team, but if we can finish the season and when everyone here [can] look back and say, ‘right, we worked as a team, we put it together, [in] tough times, good times, we worked together and then produced this result as a team’, and if everyone in the team can feel like they can own this result, whatever we achieve end of the season…
Feature Image Credit: Haas F1 Media/Simon Galloway / LAT Images