Haas finished in a disappointing P10 last year, ultimately triggering the decision to fire team principal Guenther Steiner. Despite their current trajectory, the American team’s personnel have a clear target for the 2024 season.
Ayao Komatsu will lead Haas this year, beginning a new chapter for the US squad. Unfortunately for the Japanese engineer, the limitations that have limited the team since 2016 still remain.
Haas F1 still spend less money than rivals, employs the fewest personnel and has the worst infrastructure. Generally speaking, this recipe is unlikely to create any significant success in Formula 1.
However, team owner Gene Haas made clear that finishing P10 is not an option. He described last year’s finishing result as “embarrassing”, although he simultaneously downplayed the importance of increasing funding.
As outlined in previous interviews, he believes the team is underachieving. From his perspective, better operational efficiency will be enough to unlock more performance and progress.
Despite this view, the facts ahead of 2024 seem irrefutable. Team principal Ayao Komatsu has already outlined the team’s concerns about the opening round in Bahrain.
More recently, the 47-year-old has provided more details on where things stand:
“It’s 8th place [the target for 2024]. We were in last place in 2023, so we have to beat two other teams,” he told as-web.jp.
“But considering the team’s current position, we don’t have what we need.
“If we are a small team and have a smaller budget than others, and if we don’t have a good structure as a team, there’s no way we can compete…
“I think the car we’ll take to Bahrain is still at the bottom.
“It’s not the aerodynamic team’s fault, but the timing of decisions so far has delayed development. So they didn’t have much time.”

BAHRAIN INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT, BAHRAIN – MARCH 05: Nico Hulkenberg, Haas VF-23, leads Zhou Guanyu, Alfa Romeo C43 during the Bahrain GP at Bahrain International Circuit on Sunday March 05, 2023 in Sakhir, Bahrain. (Photo by Mark Sutton / LAT Images)
Alarm bells have been ringing for some time concerning the development at Haas. However, the above comments are the most unequivocal statement regarding their chances in 2024.
Gene Haas is obviously unhappy with the team’s position, which is not an issue in itself. The problem at Haas is that, regardless of their targets, they are simply outgunned.
Rivals are simply better equipped in every department, which is very difficult to overcome.
Perhaps their development for this year, which has been delayed after a single 2023 update in COTA, is the most brutal indictment of where Haas is.
In any case, the next few months will show how significant the damage is for Komatsu’s personnel.
Author: Jaden Diaz-Ndisang