Fighting with both hands tied

Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu says the American outfit has been “fighting with both hands tied” relative to wealthier Formula 1 outfits.

Komatsu opened up about needing to find more funding for the team in order to reach the budget cap, which is set at $215m for the 2026 season – excluding the salaries of all drivers and the other top three highest earners, as well as the likes of marketing costs.

The Japanese believes this has been holding the squad back with its approximate 400-person headcount when a number of teams boast more than 1,000 employees.

Asked at Spa-Francorchamps if Haas could now operate at the limit of the budget cap, Komatsu replied: “I wish we can. We’re not. It’s one of the top priorities on my job list to be able to fund this team so that we can operate at the budget cap. Because that’s the baseline, right? We should be achieving that first step.

“We talked about us being outdeveloped. That’s not a reflection of, let’s say, incapability of our guys. I think our guys are doing, honestly, a fantastic job. Anybody who knows about Formula 1, knowing our size and resource of the team, and then producing what we are producing, I think they will understand this statement.

“But I think they are very capable. They work as a team. Their communication is clear. No-blame culture. I think the culture is getting there, and the capability is there. But I’m not, so far, able to give them enough ammunition for our guys to show what they’re capable of.

“What they produced at the beginning of this year is completely unexpected. You cannot expect the smallest team to be performing the way that we’ve been performing beginning of the season in the year of the biggest regulation change. That’s not sustainable for us.

“So it’s not a reflection of our guys, it’s more a reflection on my side. I need to be able to get better revenue to this team and provide a better environment for our guys. Then, once we’ve done that, we’ve got the guys to do it. We’ve got the drivers to do it. So I’m sure we can come back.”

Above, Komatsu was referring to Haas’ remarkable start to the season, as it lay fourth in the constructors’ standings after the first two grands prix – courtesy of Oliver Bearman’s standout results, with the British sophomore finishing seventh in Melbourne and fifth in China.

But Komatsu hasn’t shied away from the fact his team has been outpaced by its rivals in the development race. Points have grown scarcer with Q3 more elusive, to the extent the squad has been point-less in the latest five grands prix – hence the focus on finding more budget.

“Those things take time. So, I’m really trying to put that in place as soon as possible,” Komatsu added. “But it’s not like I just started working on it. We’ve been working on it. So we’re having some very good conversations.

“But really, honestly, it’s not fair on our guys to have that constraint, if you like. It’s like they’re fighting with both hands tied.

“But then when they see our lack of performance or struggles in places like Miami, Barcelona, Spielberg, Silverstone, nobody’s hiding from it. Everybody’s just talking, ‘OK, what’s the problem? How have we missed it? How did we get into this situation? How are we going to improve?’ And that’s something I really respect. So I’m really just determined to give them the environment they deserve.”

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– The Autosport.com Team