Haas has been on a downward trend for some time now—Team Principal Ayao Komatsu explains why the team’s own car continues to cause problems for the U.S. team
“We know there’s a problem with the car,” said Haas driver Esteban Ocon during the Formula 1 Spielberg weekend. At the Austrian Grand Prix, the U.S. team failed to score any World Championship points for the second time in a row, following the Grand Prix in Barcelona.
Ocon, in particular, has been struggling in 2026. In the World Championship, he trails his teammate Oliver Bearman by a clear margin of 3 to 18 points. Team principal Ayao Komatsu also provided more detailed insights into the team’s problems during the Austrian Grand Prix.
“If we knew all the causes, I would be very, very happy,” says the Japanese team principal, explaining that it is currently only partially clear why they are having such difficulties with the VF-26. However, it is now known that the issue involves parts on the car that are not functioning as hoped.
In this context, Komatsu explains that one must first consider “how much downforce we’ve lost this year compared to last year.” As a result, the cars of the new Formula 1 generation inherently have much less grip.
According to Komatsu, this means that every problem carries even greater weight. He explains: “Let’s assume there’s a problem with a component that isn’t performing at 100 percent. Let’s say it’s losing five points of downforce.”
“Although those five points are the same last year and this year, the percentage is significantly higher this year,” says the Japanese engineer, adding: “When a component isn’t working at 100 percent, it’s amazing how much the drivers can feel it.”
“And then there are various things that we as an organization simply have to improve in order to really get the most out of what we have—which hasn’t been the case so far,” the team principal explains self-critically.
What Haas Now Needs to “Improve Very Quickly”
But why aren’t certain parts of the car working as expected? “We’ve had several issues, and they’ve all been a little different,” explains Komatsu, emphasizing: “Sometimes it takes us quite a while to figure out exactly what happened.”
Because different areas are always affected, this makes troubleshooting difficult. The team principal also points out that it’s not just Ocon’s car that’s affected. Teammate Bearman has also already had problems in this regard.
“Part of it can be attributed to the initial manufacturing [of the parts],” explains Komatsu, adding that these defects “should already be identified before the car is assembled.” However, he notes that there are also “inaccuracies in the car’s assembly.”
For example, they’ve observed problems with parts that originally functioned as planned, “but if you then make a modification the following weekend, for instance, they no longer behave the same way,” reports the team principal.
He therefore holds his team accountable and emphasizes: “Formula 1 is all about the details. To get the most out of it, everything has to be precise, and I simply have the feeling that we’re lacking that precision as a team—which is something we’ve at least recognized.”
“But there are some processes we really need to improve quickly to get this under control,” he acknowledges. Otherwise, Haas could soon lose touch with the top of the midfield in the World Championship.
While the team was still in fourth place in the World Championship after the second race of the season in China—even ahead of Red Bull—it has since slipped to seventh place. The Racing Bulls are already 23 points ahead, and Alpine in fifth place is a full 36 points ahead.
