Ayao Komatsu shares what Haas are now doing for the first time in their Formula 1 history

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At the beginning of the 2024 Formula 1 season, few people would have predicted Haas to have had such a positive campaign based on their fortunes last year.

Haas finished bottom of the Constructors’ Championship last season with a car that looked fine in qualifying but suffered horrendous tyre wear issues every Sunday.

Changes were made within the team and while the driver line-up stayed the same, team principal Guenther Steiner was moved on.

Steiner was synonymous with Haas and they were almost interchangeable in the minds of many fans, particularly because of his popularity due to Drive to Survive.

Haas recruited from within to replace Steiner and hired engineer Ayao Komatsu as his successor.

The 48-year-old’s approach was going to be very different to Steiner’s because of his background and Komatsu initially tempered expectations going into the season.

Kevin Magnussen echoed Komatsu’s thoughts on Haas’s struggles but the reality has been much more encouraging than anyone could have imagined.

Nico Hulkenberg is pushing to finish in the top ten of the Constructors’ Championship while Haas sit comfortably above Alpine, Williams and Sauber in the team standings.

Komatsu was speaking to Autosport heading into the summer break and has shared that the team are now taking steps to improve that have never taken place before at Haas.

The American team – who have a UK base in Banbury – have the smallest staff numbers of any of the teams in the paddock.

However, Komatsu has now convinced team owner Gene Haas to go on a ‘huge’ recruitment drive to improve their chances of progressing in the future.

Ayao Komatsu leading Haas’s biggest recruitment drive in their history

Asked about the process made this season, Komatsu said: “[We showed] we can improve the performance.

“Then what we need to convince [the] owner is performance. He’s always looking at, ‘We want to get better, how can we go quicker?’

“So, if we can show baby steps that if we work together, even with the same resources…

“Now, even though we are on a huge recruitment [drive] that we’ve never seen before in the history of Haas F1 Team, we haven’t actually got those people on board yet, so we are largely still the same size.

“But when you’re working together, it’s just the atmosphere is so much different. And when the atmosphere is so much different, when there’s so much positivity, of course, people function better, people produce performance. That’s the biggest difference I think.”

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Haas F1 Team from team principal to Ferrari relationship

Ayao Komatsu admits one thing he might have got ‘wrong’ at Haas

Hulkenberg’s points tally of 22 after 14 race weekends is far better than many would have expected this year.

It’s, therefore, a real loss to the team that he’s already agreed a move to Sauber for next season.

Haas have already agreed their driver pairing for 2025 which is impressive in itself considering they’re normally the last manufacturer to confirm their line-up.

Ferrari youngster Oliver Bearman has a promising future and has impressed Haas with his FP1 performances this year.

He’ll be joined by Alpine star Esteban Ocon who will be the number one driver in a team for the first time in his career.

However, Komatsu has admitted that signing Ocon may be the wrong decision as he admits that he could be naïve in thinking he can ‘set clear rules’ for his drivers.

At this stage of his team principal career, it’s very hard to point to any significant errors Komatsu has made thus far.