While Haas suspect they will start the 2024 Formula 1 season weak, they also believe they can score points in the development race over the year
The fact that the new Haas team boss Ayao Komatsu openly and honestly admitted at the launch of the new Haas VF-24 for the upcoming Formula 1 season that his team will be “far behind, possibly in last place” at the start of the season has led to criticism in many places. After all, the team sacrificed last year’s development race in favor of a major update in Austin, which was intended to fundamentally revise the characteristics of the car in order to have a good starting position for 2024.
In a new press release, however, the Japanese driver has now put his statements into perspective, as it is not Haas’ ambition to finish tenth in the constructors’ championship, despite being the team with the least resources, budget and staff of all the participants.
“The short-term goal is to make incremental improvements,” he says. “I believe we have good ingredients and good people in the team, but we really need to focus on the team performing as a unit to make those improvements. For example, our first ‘medium-term’ goal is to get a working car, and that’s happened before, so I believe we can do it. “
Magnussen: Expectations over full season are “high “
Haas driver Kevin Magnussen, however, thinks his new team principal is doing a good job of keeping expectations in check: “I think expectations are being managed quite well this year,” he says. “I think in some years there has been an unrealistic optimism going into a season and that has affected me too.”
“Ayao has said quite clearly that he doesn’t think we’ve left last year’s position behind us yet, but he sees the development much stronger and is optimistic that we can progress this year. The whole field is so close together and I think last year we completely hit a wall in terms of development.”
“We couldn’t really break through that barrier until we changed the concept and this year is looking much better. Expectations are low at the beginning but high for the whole season,” the Dane clarifies.
Test drives under the sign of tire management
While Magnussen’s team-mate Nico Hülkenberg has already spent a full 200-kilometer filming day behind the wheel of the VF-24 at Silverstone, Magnussen will probably drive the new car in Bahrain on February 19 for the second permitted filming day of the season. The official tests in Sachir will then take place from February 21 to 23, where Haas will focus on one topic in particular: tire wear
“If you look at our problem last year, it was clear that we simply weren’t able to manage the tires over 300 kilometers on Sunday – so that’s what we’re focusing on,” says Team Principal Komatsu when asked which aspect will be important for Haas during the tests.
“Our test program in Bahrain is completely focused on collecting the relevant data so that our engineers can understand what is happening with the car and the tires. Once we have good quality data, we can decide how to improve it. Then we decide on a different direction. “
Komatsu: What he appreciates about his drivers
However, Komatsu doesn’t need to worry too much about the two drivers. With a combined total of 366 Grands Prix starts, Hülkenberg and Magnussen are one of the most experienced driver pairings in the Formula 1 field, which can only be positive for Haas’ development program.
The team principal knows this too: “Their working relationship is very good. In terms of the car they’re looking for, it’s not quite the same, but the fundamentals are the same, so the team doesn’t have to cater to two different requests – which is great. Their feedback has been very accurate in the way they explain the car’s problems to us.”
“They explain it in a way that the engineers can understand very well, so they really push the team forward. They are also both very mature when it comes to the Friday program, tire allocation and so on. They both understand the big picture and the rules they play by, which takes a lot of pressure off the engineering team and that’s really good. “
