Haas team boss takes blame for 'environmental' constraints amid slump in F1 form

Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu has stated his squad has fallen behind in the development race due to the “environment” limitations within the team.

Until this year and the arrival of Cadillac, Haas was the newest team on the grid after debuting in 2016, but has remained the squad with the smallest workforce.

During its decade-long stint in F1, it has enjoyed some successful years, peaking in 2018 when it finished fifth in the constructors' championship. 

Haas entered the sport's new era this year under fresh technical regulations on a strong note, with Oliver Bearman finishing the Australian and Chinese Grands Prix in seventh and fifth respectively.

Komatsu attributed the strong start to ensuring it got the basics right with its new car. 

“So far, it's got everything about how this team is, good and bad,” Komatsu told select media including RacingNews365. “The way we started the season so strongly was way, way beyond what I anticipated or expected. 

“It's the biggest regulation change ever. So us being the smallest team, I honestly expected us to start close to last, apart from Cadillac, because they are a brand-new team.

“We focused on the basics, built a car in time, hit every single test, learn as much as possible, reliability, because you have to have a car running to be able to learn. 

“So we done all those basics very well, but we made some mistakes along the way. So at least going into race one, based on our understanding of how to get the best out of what we got, was decent. 

“Then we capitalised on that. I always say you got to be there to take every opportunity. If your car is capable of doing P5, you should be P5. If that's P10 or P15, you should be there. 

“Even if it's a P15 car, you never know what can happen in front of you, so you have to be there. We've done the basics very well. That's why we had a very strong start, which is all down to our guys. It's very, very impressive. Hats off to them.”

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Haas limited by team resources

After scoring five point-scoring results in the opening six rounds of the year, Haas suffered a slip down the pecking order as it got out-developed by rival teams.

Komatsu has acknowledged that its form does not reflect the ability of its staff, insisting they are being limited by the resources it has in its arsenal.

“Then what happened afterwards in terms of our development race, etc. It's indicative of the constrained environment we've got,” he said. “Our guys are up against everything, in terms of number of people, in terms of tools that they have and the resources we have.

“Within that constraint, they are really showing true character again. We're addressing the problems head-on, completely in an open, transparent manner, and then trying to improve it as fast as possible. 

“So it's more the fact that I haven't been able to give them that environment that they can show what they're capable of.

“That's what I'm really trying to put in place as soon as possible. The fact that we fell behind in the development race is definitely not a reflection of their capability. 

“It's more of the environment they are in, which is more on my side. I'm really trying to improve that so that they can show you know their true potential, which is honestly great. Considering there are 400 people, what they achieve is amazing.”

But the challenge of keeping up its strong form has come as no surprise to Komatsu.

“I fully expected that. It's the brand new regulation, so everybody has got a huge margin. So I expected that development race to be fierce like this. 

“I knew it was going to be an uphill struggle to keep up. For me, without constraint, everything had to be perfect. But not everything can be perfect. So that's why we are where we are. 

“But it's not it's not a surprise how fierce the development race is.”