New Haas F1 team boss Ayao Komatsu has tempered expectations of a strong start for the US outfit’s upcoming campaign due the late development of its 2024 car.
Haas endured a challenging 2023 season, finishing bottom of the Constructors' standings, scoring just four top-ten finishes in 22 races.
The team grappled throughout the year to pinpoint the reasons behind the VF-23's typically strong single-lap pace contrasting sharply with its struggles over race distances.
Amidst these struggles, the team's decision to introduce a new concept at the United States Grand Prix further complicated matters.
The team ended the season uncertain whether the significant upgrade had indeed improved their performance, as drivers Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen held differing opinions and ran distinct specifications.
While Komatsu expressed some optimism about the progress made during the off-season, he cautioned against expecting a dramatic step forward in performance right away.
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He acknowledged that Haas' sluggish start to its 2024 development programme would likely limit any immediate gains and that the team would need time to fully integrate the new concept and address any remaining weaknesses.
“The ’24 car is a clear step,” he said. “But whether it is good enough against the competition to start off with? I don’t believe so because we started so late.
“We changed the concept so late as well and then by actually doing the Austin update, we diverted our resources a little bit. So, I’m realistic about the car we put out in Bahrain, but not in a negative manner.”
While keeping his team’s expectations in check, Komatsu does want to see tangible progress during the year.
“It’s not the fault of our engineers, our guys, they are good people,” he added.
“For me, the key would be that whatever the car we put out in Bahrain, whatever the problems are that we see, we try to understand it and then move from that point as a team, rather than having possible issues with a lack of cohesion between certain departments.
“We are a small team so we cannot have these internal issues if you like. We’ve got to move as one, otherwise we don’t stand a chance.”
Komatsu revealed that Haas will roll out its VF-24 contender at Silverstone for a shake-down ten days before the start of pre-season testing. The team will then travel to Bahrain the following week and immediately use its second 100 km filming day.
“On 11 February we have a Silverstone shakedown and then two days before the official test starts, we have another shakedown in Bahrain. Then we go into the official testing,” the Haas team boss explained.
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