Haas highlight 'huge disadvantage' as major F1 challenge looms

As F1 ushers in sweeping regulations changes over the winter, Haas finds itself objectively at a "huge disadvantage", according to team principal Ayao Komatsu.

The plucky American squad is an underdog in the F1 paddock, significantly smaller in personnel than its rivals, even in the midfield, and until recently not even able to max out on the championship's imposed cost cap.

Despite that, the Kannapolis-based outfit, with facilities in Banbury and Maranello, has managed to compete with F1 champions, like Williams and Team Enstone (currently Alpine), and projects undergoing massive transformation amid substantial investment, like Aston Martin.

However, with rule changes for both power units and chassis casting a dark shadow over the horizon, Haas faces an uphill battle to retain the ground it claimed on its rivals during the current ground effects era.

Speaking recently as part of an interview with RacingNews365 and select other publications, Komatsu, who has led the team since the start of the 2024 season, explained that Haas finds itself on the back foot.

When asked where the 2026 regulations overhaul was a bigger test for the team than the one in 2017, just its second season in F1, the Japanese engineer detailed why it is.

"Yes, because '17 was only an aero change," Komatsu promptly replied. "This is aero and PU together.

"Then this PU is a huge challenge in terms of energy recovery, deployment, and that means a driver is completely in that loop. Then, the simulator plays a much bigger role - and that's the area we are behind.

"So for sure, it's a huge challenge, but it really focuses on us on that. We've got to really improve that as quickly as possible."

Haas is a Ferrari power unit customer, so it does not have control over the product it receives from the Italian team.

However, how it utilises it, through management and optimisation, is, and using a simulator is the best way of establishing its capabilities and what it requires ahead of the new season.

This is an area in which Haas is lacking. The American team does not yet have a simulator of its own, so it is reliant on technical partner Toyota's while it develops one.

"So, yes, it is a huge challenge, but I think we are focused on the right area to improve," Komatsu said. "To start off with, for sure, we are at a disadvantage, but we just have to move quickly... as fast as possible.

"Then, through this process, we are improving the team's capability. It's kind of forced upon us, but that's what we've got to do."

Being 'humble' about Haas' situation

The regulation changes are considerable, and as such, are being broadly viewed as an opportunity to reset the established pecking order in F1.

But Komatsu is wary of the adverse implications it could have for Haas, given the size of the team and the relative shortfall of resources it has compared to its rivals.

"We have to be a bit cautious in the sense that with any big regulation change, bigger teams would have an advantage, and the more established teams, because they've got their established process, methodology...," he pointed out.

"You've got the horsepower to throw at it. Like simulators are a good example. So all those, if you really look at it objectively like that, we have a huge disadvantage."

Playing his own devil's advocate, Komatsu highlighted that by extension of that logic, Haas should be rooted to the foot of the constructors' standings year in, year out.

"But then, at the same time, if it's purely like that, we should be finishing P10 every single year - we don't even have 400 people," he added.

"The other teams have so many more people, and then much better hardware, etc.

"But we're not, we finished P7 last year, we were eight points from finishing P6, so we're fighting in the midfield, qualifying in Q3, so there's lots to be said about that side, which you cannot measure objectively.

"So in that sense, it is an opportunity. But at the same time, I've just got to be humble about where we are compared to other people.

"Other people are not stupid either, right? Like I said at the beginning of '24 in Bahrain, I expected it to be last; that wasn't bullshit. That's seriously what I expected."

Pessimism vs. Optimism

Haas enjoyed somewhat of a renaissance under Komatsu last year, and whilst it has slipped back slightly this campaign, to ninth at the summer break, it is only 17 points adrift of Aston Martin in sixth.

Although the 49-year-old anticipates difficulty on the power unit side of the 2026 rules, he is pleased by what he sees from the other half of the impending changes.

"From that moment, how we progressed was amazing, but we've kind of got to do the same starting with next year," he said.

"The PU side is out of our hands, right? How we optimise the usage is up to us, but I think that's going to be a challenge for us.

"On the wind tunnel side, I think we are making good progress, so we'll see. It's neither too pessimistic nor too optimistic. We're doing the best we can, and once the season starts, we just have to run as quickly as possible."

Expanding on his final point, Komastu underlined his faith in those working for him whilst reiterating the more daunting half of the dyadic rule changes.

"We can't be too optimistic, we can't be too pessimistic," he stated. "I don't think we need to be too pessimistic, because we've got good people, but the PU side and PU management side are a huge challenge."