La previsione della stagione disperata di Haas non era “sciocchezze”

(Motorsport-Total.com) – Former Haas F1 team boss Günther Steiner recently explained that data from the wind tunnel indicated before his departure that Haas would be competitive in the 2024 Formula 1 season and that the team’s hopeless season forecast was wrong.

Indeed, the Haas VF-24 has already proven to be a car capable of making it to Q3 in qualifying. In the first three Grands Prix, Nico Hülkenberg and Kevin Magnussen have scored points three times combined. Haas currently sits in seventh place in the Formula 1 Constructors’ Championship ahead of Williams, Sauber, and Alpine.

However, unlike Steiner, current Haas team boss Ayao Komatsu insists on his stance from the winter break, stating that the team could not predict such potential as they did not know how much progress other teams would make.

“I knew how much we would find,” Komatsu said during the Japan weekend in Suzuka. “But because I knew how late we started, as we paused development for two months to bring the upgrade for Austin [2023], I had to assume that everyone else would find at least the same or more.”

“And we are the smallest team, aren’t we? It’s not like we have a better methodology than others. I’m sure on average, everyone else is just as smart. So that was my basis,” said the Haas team boss, clarifying: “It’s not about hiding or obscuring anything. It’s just my expectation of reality.”

“How on earth can you expect Alpine to do what they did?” Haas team boss Ayao Komatsu

“I know the numbers [from the wind tunnel], which are not impressive, so I never thought that would be enough for seventh place. Never! And anyway: how on earth can you expect Alpine to do what they did? Could you predict that? No. You can’t rely on someone messing up. You have to assume they are doing a good job.”

Komatsu admits that he did not downplay expectations for the outside world, partially to prevent team members from being disappointed if Haas ends up last in the Constructors’ Championship: “Internally, I didn’t want my people to see the car in Bahrain in P10 [in the championship] and then be depressed and lose hope.”

“I just wanted to make sure, like: guys, you know what you’re doing. You just didn’t have enough time to extract enough performance from the car. It’s not your fault if we are P10 in Bahrain,” explains Komatsu, stating: “That’s the internal message I wanted to convey.”

“I had to prepare my people so that if we are last in Bahrain, they don’t have to be depressed. So it’s more of an internal message, if you will. But it’s not nonsense. Honestly, that was my expectation,” emphasizes the Haas team boss regarding his winter forecast made during the presentation of the VF-24.

However, Komatsu acknowledges that the winter tests in Bahrain showed the potential of the VF-24: “When we tested before the season, after the first and second day, I thought we could keep up with two or three other teams.”

“I didn’t exactly know,” says the Haas team boss, “how big our progress would be, but somewhere around P8, P7, I could see us. But could I predict that when I looked at the wind tunnel numbers? Absolutely not!”

Asked if the 2024 Haas generates more downforce than expected, Komatsu replied: “I don’t want to go into too much detail, but it’s not linear. We see certain characteristics on track. [The car] may not be outstanding in terms of pure numbers, but in terms of characteristics, it is much more drivable.”

The VF-24 was not designed as a forgiving car, but…

Komatsu’s vivid explanation: “If you have a toxic car, a driver may be able to push the limits from time to time. But if, let’s say, you have a more forgiving car, then the absolute performance may be weaker, but the driver can actually extract it in nine out of ten cases.”

“Now, if you look at races over 305 kilometers, which car do you want to have? Of course, the forgiving car. This year’s car may not have been designed that way, but in certain areas of the car, we find this forgiving characteristic. That’s why drivers can build confidence,” says the Haas team boss.

“But again: If someone can already see that in the wind tunnel, that’s amazing,” concludes Komatsu.