Haas Team Principal Ayao Komatsu has explained why it’s “not acceptable” to scrap 2025 Formula 1 development in favour of an early start on next year’s rules cycle, akin to a tactic the outfit employed in 2021.
In 2021, the last year of the previous regulation cycle, Komatsu and then-Team Principal Guenther Steiner agreed that the limited financial resource available at the time wasn’t worth pouring into its current generation of car.
Amid a period of stagnation for Haas, whereby it had only scored three points the year before, the team didn’t develop its 2021 car whatsoever and instead focused solely on its first-gen ground effect car for 2022.
The decision paid off and Haas went from scoring no points and finishing last in 2021, to scoring 37 and finishing seventh a year later.
Next year’s rule changes are seismic, with broad revisions coming to the power unit, chassis and aerodynamic regulations, but Haas is in a different place than it was four years ago having narrowly missed out on sixth in the Constructors’ standings in 2024.
So, even if Haas found itself a second off the pace come Melbourne in just under two week’s time, Komatsu ruled out scrapping developing the VF-25.
“That’d be pretty sudden, before going to race one,” he said.
“But the thing is, we can’t do that anyway.
“For us, if we are in that position, we’ve got to develop better out of this car to try to catch up.
“We’re not in a position where we can just give up on ‘25.”
Financial incentive behind Haas’ development push
Not only is Haas in a stronger position heading into 2025 than it was four years ago from a technical point of view, the team is also in a stronger position financially thanks to its title partnership with MoneyGram.
Moreover, the team’s recent technical alliance with Toyota shows Haas is an outfit on the up and Komatsu revealed that the cost of finishing last in 2025 isn’t worth any potential gains that could be gleaned from focusing on next year’s rule changes more severely.
“If we finish last this year, obviously the amount of money we lose, that’s not acceptable,” he said.
“It is very simple,” Komatsu added, acknowledging that as the season progresses, “We have a few different scenarios depending on where we are, which I agree with the owner.”
Given that wind tunnel time for 2026 development has been permitted since the start of the new year, Haas, of course, has begun developing its car for next year, but it’s a balancing gap currently tipping in the VF-25’s favour.
When it comes to what percentage of development time is currently focused on next year, Komatsu said “it’s a bit difficult to say. Obviously we started, but percentage is a bit difficult to say.
“At the moment, maybe the simplest thing to say is we’re still focused on 25.
“Of course we are doing 26, but the major focus is still on 25.”
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