With Formula One’s (FWONK) Miami Grand Prix just days away, tiny Haas F1 is somehow in the driver’s seat.
Haas enters Miami in a surprising position — sitting fourth in the constructors’ standings through the first three races of the season, a remarkable result for the smallest team on the grid. But Ayao Komatsu, Haas F1’s team principal and trackside boss, is careful not to get ahead of himself.
“We’ve only done three races. It’s very early days,” he said in an interview with Yahoo Finance.
He credits the strong start to the team’s relentless focus on preparation, a necessary ingredient given its lack of financial resources compared to bigger teams.
Ayao Komatsu ahead of the Formula One Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka Circuit in Suzuka, Japan, on March 26, 2026. (Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images) · NurPhoto via Getty Images
During preseason testing in Barcelona and Bahrain, Haas ran 154 laps on the very first day of the shakedown, when some rivals didn’t show up until the final day. “For us, as the smallest team, we had to get there day one, running reliably. Then we can learn,” Komatsu said.
While all teams operate under F1’s cost cap, Haas still spends less than its competitors. “If money were everything, we should be right at the back,” he said plainly. “Money is a necessity, but it doesn’t guarantee success.”
With more than a decade of experience across teams, including BAR Honda (HMC) and Renault (RNO.PA), Komatsu has developed a clear philosophy: In a sport where marginal gains are everything, team culture is a performance variable.
“I want everybody to understand how they’re contributing to our ultimate goal, which is the sporting result out on the track,” he explained. For a team of Haas’s size, just under 400 employees — dwarfed by outfits like Mercedes and Ferrari with upwards of 1,200 staff — cohesion isn’t just a nice-to-have.
“If we are not a team, we don’t stand a chance,” Komatsu said.
The Haas F1 VF-26 Ferrari No. 31 on track during the F1 Grand Prix of Japan at Suzuka Circuit on March 29, 2026, in Suzuka, Japan. (Mark Thompson/Getty Images) · Mark Thompson via Getty Images
That culture, he said, also shapes their approach to the sweeping 2026 regulatory changes on the horizon — new cars, new engines, new technical parameters. For a smaller team with fewer resources to iterate, the priority is nailing the fundamentals early and building from there.
And the stakes are high, not just for team performance but also for its image in growing markets like the US, now that Toyota (TM) is in tow as its lead sponsor.
F1’s surging popularity in the US comes as Apple became the exclusive broadcast partner for Formula One in the US, significantly raising the sport’s profile. (Yahoo Finance partner Yahoo Sports will begin streaming F1 practice and qualifying sessions across its broadcast platforms starting this weekend in Miami.)
Komatsu didn’t address the streaming changes, which have caused some consternation for fans who are used to watching F1 on free broadcast TV and cable. But he saw firsthand Apple’s effect on the sport last year, when the it was rumored to have secured the broadcast rights and also promoted its biggest film to date, “F1: The Movie.”
“Last year I came to New York’s Times Square for the premiere of the F1 movie. When I got out of the car, I just could not believe it,” he said. “The atmosphere, all the big screens — that’s something I couldn’t have imagined five years ago.”
Brad Pitt attends the world premiere of “F1: The Movie” in Times Square on June 16, 2025, in New York City. (Mike Coppola/Getty Images for Warner Bros. Pictures) · Mike Coppola via Getty Images
For Haas — now the second American team, along with Cadillac, starting this year — that growth creates unique opportunities. During his New York visit this week, Komatsu rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange, a moment he described as part of a broader effort to build the team’s story with American fans. “Nothing is going to happen very quickly, but we’re planting seeds,” he said.
Central to Haas’s growth ambitions is a deepening partnership with Toyota, led by chairman Akio Toyoda.
Komatsu described their first meeting in Toyoda’s Tokyo office as unexpectedly personal: “He’s a very passionate guy. He’s a racing guy.” The collaboration goes beyond engineering support, with both organizations committed to developing young drivers, engineers, and mechanics through the unique pressures of Formula One competition.
Ayao Komatsu, team principal of Haas F1, and Akio Toyoda, chair of Toyota, talk prior to the F1 Grand Prix of Japan at Suzuka Circuit on March 29, 2026, in Suzuka, Japan. (Clive Mason/Getty Images) · Clive Mason via Getty Images
“Formula One as a platform is ideal to build something like that,” Komatsu said, with the Haas team aiding Toyota’s engineers with real-world experience while benefiting from the immense mechanical and R&D resources that only a company like Toyota could provide.
Pras Subramanian is Lead Auto Reporter for Yahoo Finance. You can follow him on X and on Instagram.
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