Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu is confident his team will continue to reach a high level despite lacking in areas compared to the rest of the grid.<\/p>\n
Pretty much since its inception, Haas has been a team looking to punch above its weight but a strong start to 2026 has the American outfit looking upwards.<\/p>\n
Haas chief details plan to compete in F1<\/p>\n
Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google<\/a> to your favourites list for news you can trust<\/p>\n If you are not a Ferrari or a Mercedes, competing at the top end of Formula 1 is an incredibly expensive business, even with the cost cap in place.<\/p>\n Haas entered the sport in 2016 and is now an established member of the paddock but even still, by its own confession, its is lacking when compared to others.<\/p>\n Team principal Ayao Komatsu though said despite that disadvantage, the team knows it has to maximise what it does have.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s overall togetherness of the team. I think, as everybody here knows, preparing for this brand-new regulation has been a huge challenge, and for us, being the smallest team, that challenge was, I\u2019d say, even bigger,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cBut we managed to hit every single milestone in terms of hitting the shakedown, Barcelona, Bahrain 1, 2, and then throughout.<\/p>\n \u201cWe may lack some of the off-track tools that some of the bigger teams may have. So the things we have to learn at the track are huge and we have to be doing it really, really quickly.<\/p>\n \u201cWe know what we are lacking, we know what we can do, so we\u2019re doing obviously a parallel work. One, obviously making best of what we\u2019ve got, but at the same time we are in the process of installing a simulator in Banbury as well and a few other tools.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, I think the development race is going to be very tough, but at least to start off with our car has a decent characteristic, it\u2019s a really good base, so we know the direction is correct. It\u2019s just a matter of can we find enough performance to keep up with the others.\u201d<\/p>\n More on Haas from PlanetF1.com<\/p>\n Oliver Bearman points finger at Franco Colapinto over \u2018unacceptable\u2019 move<\/a> One smart bit of business the team has done is to sign Ferrari youngster Oliver Bearman. The Briton outscored his experienced team-mate Esteban Ocon last year and is currently seventh in the 2026 standings.<\/p>\n \u201cHe takes steps every single time,\u201d Komatsu said of the 20-year-old.<\/p>\n \u201cYou saw how much he improved throughout last year, right? As we said, his speed\u2019s never been in doubt. Then you saw the consistency improvement towards the end of last year.<\/p>\n \u201cMexico, P4, was amazing under huge pressure. Then pre-season testing throughout, working with the engineers, mechanics, feedback, all the quality has improved. If you look at the first two races, he hardly made any mistakes.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just the way he can absorb the information, understand the bigger picture, he\u2019s able to articulate it, digest, apply, all these qualities you need to be a top driver, he\u2019s got it. The thing is that his attitude is very, very positive, so he brings the best out of people around him as well, engineers, mechanics, everyone. That\u2019s a very important quality.<\/p>\n \u201cEven when there\u2019s some less than ideal situation happens, the way he deals with it, he actually doesn\u2019t depress people, he actually motivates people to be able to solve the problem quicker. So that\u2019s a natural attribute he\u2019s got.<\/p>\n \u201cWe already enjoy working with him and, at the moment, I can\u2019t see the ceiling, so that\u2019s the exciting part.\u201d<\/p>\n Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp<\/a> to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.<\/p>\n You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel<\/a> for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!<\/p>\n
Ayao Komatsu warns F1 not to rush 2026 rule changes<\/a>
Haas building on record start as Oliver Bearman leads early 2026 charge<\/a><\/p>\n