A top-six finish for Haas in the constructors’ standings is within reach according to Ayao Komatsu
Haas's new boss, Ayao Komatsu, praised the work and performance of his team this year, who had expected to be further behind. A surprising performance, and one that gives them high hopes, as the American team believes it is capable of overtaking Racing Bulls at the end of the season.
Can the American Haas team secure sixth place in the constructors’ standings this season? This question arises as the team, which struggled a lot in 2023, seems to be rejuvenated in 2024, making significant progress on the starting grid. Last year, Haas faced tire degradation issues that prevented any significant improvement in their race performances. However, this season, things have changed.
Despite a season start where pessimism seemed to prevail, Haas quickly showed signs of optimism due to the performances achieved. In the first three races, the team scored points twice, including a double finish in the points in Australia. These results have given hope to the team, and the drivers have expressed their satisfaction with the progress made.
« I think that starting this year, we thought we would be the last team on the grid and we weren’t, so it’s a nice surprise. I feel like we’ve had a good first half of the season. And it’s the first time in Haas’ history that we’ve made improvements to the car that have made it faster. So that’s already a real step forward. I hope we can keep going on this path. We’re on a good trend, I think », explained Kevin Magnussen, clearly pleased with the progress made by his team over the past few months and after tough times.
Comments that were recently relayed by Ayao Komatsu, the new head of Haas who recently set an ambitious goal for the team: to catch up with Racing Bulls and secure sixth place in the constructors’ championship by the end of the season.
« If we look at where we are now, we are seven points behind Racing Bull in sixth place so we must aim for sixth place in the championship. That’s our goal for the rest of the season »,” Komatsu announced to RaceFans. Currently, Haas is only seven points behind Racing Bulls, a gap that seems surmountable given the team’s performances this season, which notably achieved two consecutive sixth places during the weekends in Austria and Silverstone. With 27 points on the scoreboard, Haas has already scored 15 points more than in the entire 2023 season, thus demonstrating a clear improvement.
Despite these encouraging results, Komatsu remains cautious after two difficult weekends for the team in Budapest and Spa. He believes that Haas’ performances in the second half of the season will depend on their ability to understand the car well and take advantage of the new developments.
« Just after the summer break, at Zandvoort, let’s see if we can perform and start scoring points again. Budapest was tough and Spa was tough – we are looking into why we couldn’t perform well in those two races. It’s too late to influence the development, as development for the rest of the season is now complete. But in terms of car setup on track, tire management, etc. Any lessons we can draw from Budapest and Spa would be beneficial. »
The American team must therefore find speed thanks to these recent improvements, a task that seems more difficult this year according to Tom McCullough, performance director of Aston Martin, who highlighted the challenges for each team in finding initial speed from the improvements they make to their car.
« This happens a lot these days. We have made updates that have not generated as much performance improvement as we would have liked. We have already said this. I think that with the current regulations, we are somewhat in the realm of compromises, as was the case last year, which other teams also experienced. You can improve performance, add more aerodynamic support effectively, without introducing negative features. »
« But with these regulations, it’s not easy, as you can see all along the pit lane. So, it’s a challenge for everyone, I think. » Despite the challenges, Haas seems to have found a winning formula this season. With ten Grand Prix races remaining, the end of the season looks exciting for the American team. If the team manages to maintain its performances and take advantage of the internal tensions at Racing Bulls, who are still searching for their duo of drivers for 2025, they could well achieve their goal of sixth place in the Constructors’ Championship. It would be a feat for a team with a limited budget, which had finished in tenth and last place in the standings the previous year.
