Haas goes into this weekend’s Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix with real momentum, but also a clear challenge.
The American team sits in a four-way scrap for sixth in the Constructors’ Championship, with 20 points covering Racing Bulls, Aston Martin, Haas and Sauber.
With three rounds left, that prize money window matters. For a small outfit like Haas, more than $10m per position is a significant boost to its budget and future development plans.
Oliver Bearman has helped keep the team in the mix with an impressive run of form. Esteban Ocon, however, has struggled to match his rookie team-mate’s results.
Brazil underlined the contrast. Ocon fell in Q1, prompting Haas to change his set-up. He clawed his way to 12th, while Bearman secured a second straight top-six finish.
Haas boss Ayao Komatsu wants both sides of the garage firing this weekend as the team aims to make more inroads on its midfield rivals at its final home race of 2025.
“Coming to Vegas off the back of another strong result, the team has great momentum, and we know what we’re fighting for,” Komatsu said.
“With three races remaining, we haven’t changed our mindset or approach, we will attack each race at a time.
“Vegas is a challenging circuit with a very long straight, different from Interlagos. I think with our car’s characteristics, we can fight anywhere.
“The challenge is getting both drivers to perform, as Esteban by his own admission, didn’t get the best out of it in qualifying last time, although his race pace was amazing.
“We need to get both drivers qualifying well to score with both cars, which 100 per cent we can do.
“We need to hit the ground running and focus on what we need to do, get the set-up right, and get the most out of the drivers. If we do that, the result will come.”
Ocon admits things ‘not aligning’ at Haas
Ocon departed Interlagos frustrated. Having started in the pit lane, he incurred another setback when he sustained a puncture at the same moment as Max Verstappen.
“Yes, we started in the pit lane, but we had the puncture just one lap after Max, and that puncture basically was exactly at the time where the race resumed,” he said.
“So I lost, I don’t know, 10 seconds at the time, and that’s what made all the difference.
“I would have finished in front of all those cars if that was not the case.
“Extremely disappointed, really. It’s just no luck, really, from quite a lot of time now that we are dealing with.
“It’s just not aligning, the plan is for us, but the positive that we can take away is that the pace was okay.
“We got all these cars around and we would have been able to make progress. So, yeah, disappointed with the outcome, for sure.”
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