Haas boss Ayao Komatsu has revealed the team will operate at Formula 1‘s cost cap for the first time ever in 2025, but he warned that also presents a new challenge.
The Kannapolis-based squad has seen a rise in revenue via sponsors and a seventh-place finish in the Constructors’ Championship, its highest placing since 2018.
This combination has enabled Haas to now run to F1’s $135 million cap without Gene Haas, the eponymous owner who has bankrolled the team since its inception.
But as Haas aims to build on a promising last campaign, Komatsu has warned that the American outfit will have to be prudent to ensure it avoids exceeding the limit.
“This year is the first time that as a company, Gene doesn’t have to put his own money in,” Komatsu, who replaced Guenther Steiner prior to last season, divulged.
“We haven’t been hitting the budget cap, we are hitting it this year. So we have a different challenge of making sure we stay within the budget cap.
“It’s great that we finally got here, but in terms of mindset, it’s the same thing—like trackside engineering, we really had to change the mindset of everyone, what is acceptable and what we have to strive for.
“It’s the same with this budget thing. Before, if we were under the budget cap, if we had money, we could spend it without worrying about it.
“Now we have to make sure we stay within the budget cap. So it’s a whole different mindset. But if you want to be competitive, that’s minimum where you should be.”
Haas model has aided financial improvement
Komatsu highlighted that Haas’ unique setup has also enabled the achievement, with the team outsourcing production of certain parts elsewhere, including Ferrari.
“This approach helps the team remain competitive despite its limited in-house resources. Some of it is obvious, right? Maranello and also the external manufacturing, etc,” he added.
“But we made some improvements last year. We are making more improvements this year, so we’ve got to be more efficient.
“All those notional values [are set]. But at the moment, let’s say for the foreseeable future – when I say foreseeable future, like next few years at least –
even with the notional value deficiency, with the capabilities and resource we have got, that’s the best way to go.”
Reaching cost cap a huge achievement for F1’s smallest squad
With the number of staff less than half of the majority of teams on the grid, Haas has consistently struggled and achieved well in comparison, and the reaching of the cap is perhaps its greatest achievement, and to some, a possible vindication of Haas’ decision to place Komatsu in the top role.
Haas’ difference of opinion with Steiner over the direction of the team and the methods to progress were the catalyst for the decision to not reward the Italian with a new contract, handing the reins over to Komatsu.
2024 saw a mini regeneration, with the team scoring multiple points-scoring race finishes with experienced pair Nico Hülkenberg and Kevin Magnussen at the wheel.
It narrowly missed out on a top-six finish in the Constructors’ standings after Alpine’s upturn in fortunes late on in the season.
The team had more reasons to be happy, with the announcement in September that it has begun a technical partnership with Toyota Gazoo Racing, which will work alongside its pre-existing relationship with Ferrari.
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