Komatsu: I didn't expect Alpine to achieve a double podium

Haas was one of the main disappointments in Brazil. After several promising weekends, the American team left Brazil without scoring a single point due to a car difficult to drive in wet conditions, as evidenced by the multiple errors made by the drivers during the race. On the other hand, its rivals Alpine and Racing Bulls had a much more satisfying weekend and took advantage of it to climb up the standings. Oliver Oakes' team even overtook Haas in the constructors' championship thanks to a double podium achieved at Interlagos.

Very fast Alpines in the rain.

A performance that Ayao Komatsu, director of the Haas team, made a point of highlighting. The Japanese declared being surprised by the pace shown by the French single-seaters on a wet track and praised all the team's work. "I was not expecting Alpine to achieve a double podium, but we always knew that anything could happen," he told Autosport. "In this type of chaotic race, anyone can score 15 points. I was not expecting 33 points, but it happened. Congratulations to Alpine, their car was excellent in wet conditions, very fast." Now seventh in the team championship, three points behind Alpine and with only a two-point lead over Racing Bulls (which also scored points with both its drivers in Brazil), Haas is under pressure. However, Ayao Komatsu explained that the last Grand Prix delivered a positive note for the American team, seeing Esteban Ocon, future driver of the team, performing very well.

After remarkable qualifications finished in fourth place, the Norman delivered a very solid performance in the race and even treated himself to the luxury of leading the Grand Prix and distancing Verstappen for a few laps. A feat that did not go unnoticed within Haas. If there is a positive point, it is that Esteban, our driver for next year, drove very well. I sent him a congratulatory message immediately. We must respect his opponent, they did a good job and had the right car for these conditions.

Haas loses a spot in the rankings

Despite this, the Japanese driver is aware that this result does not help his team, which seemed comfortably in sixth position but now has to find performance again after several weekends where they appeared to struggle more on Sundays, during the Grand Prix. “I think I said, with eight races to go, that there was a good gap with Alpine, that we had to give our all at every event – that wasn't the case. In Austin, our performance dropped on Sunday;[in Brazil] yes, the car isn't fast enough on intermediate tyres, but operationally, we should have done much, much better.”

« Since the sprint qualifications, there hasn't been a single satisfying session, so we have to question ourselves and acknowledge that if we want to be at the forefront of the midfield teams, we have to improve operationally. I just have to motivate people, so for the last three races, we just have to be at our best. Then, if the races are dry, we should be able to score points. » Despite a disappointing result, the Haas team principal is confident for the rest of the season, believing that the car's pace on dry tarmac will earn them some points towards the end of the season. « The positive point is that if you look at our drivers, Ollie in Q3, without the control unit failure, he should have been fighting for sixth place. So, on dry track, we had the pace. »

With three races remaining, including a sprint weekend, a lot of points are still up for grabs. Currently, only five points separate Alpine, Haas, and Racing Bulls, making these final rounds even more exciting where no one knows what the outcome of this intense battle will be.