Haas admits to a serious aerodynamic flaw, making the VF-25 unpredictable and uncompetitive. Fixes are coming, but not anytime soon.
Haas’ disastrous start to the 2024 Formula 1 season isn’t just a minor setback—it’s a fundamental issue that won’t be fully resolved for several races. The problem was so severe that team principal Ayao Komatsu initially believed something was physically broken on the VF-25 during the Australian Grand Prix weekend.
Speaking to the media ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix, Komatsu opened up about the struggles Haas is facing with its latest car, which currently ranks as the least competitive on the grid.
“It was a huge shock. After the Bahrain tests, we weren’t expecting this at all. The car wasn’t perfect, sure, but Melbourne was a whole different level. Honestly, from the very first lap in FP1, I thought something was wrong—either the car was damaged or something was fundamentally off.”
When initial checks confirmed that everything was mechanically sound, Komatsu and his team realized they had a serious aerodynamic issue on their hands.
The Biggest Weakness: High-Speed Corners
One major flaw became immediately apparent—Haas was significantly slower than its rivals in high-speed corners. This issue persisted throughout the entire race weekend.
“Turn 10 completely exposed our aerodynamic problem,” Komatsu admitted. “The car just doesn’t generate the downforce it should at high speeds. Between Turn 9 and Turn 10, we were completely off the pace.”
The issue stems from a combination of aerodynamic instability and a lack of rear downforce.
“If it were just one of these two issues, we could manage. But when both occur simultaneously, the car becomes incredibly difficult to drive.”
Even though wind tunnel data suggests the VF-25 should perform much better, the reality on track tells a different story.
“In Turn 10, the actual downforce the driver can use is about the same as what we had in 2024. Even though, on paper, this car should be far superior.”
“The problem isn’t just about potential performance—it’s about making that performance usable.”
A Car That’s Unstable and Unpredictable
While the VF-25 theoretically has strong baseline characteristics, the car’s real-world behavior is far from ideal. Esteban Ocon described it as “very unstable”, highlighting major inconsistencies in how the car handles at different speeds.
“We’re seeing a lot of unpredictable behavior between low and high speeds,” Ocon explained. “It’s difficult to find a setup that works across all conditions, which forces us to make compromises that hurt overall performance.”
Despite Haas’ relatively trouble-free pre-season testing, there were warning signs. Bahrain’s layout, dominated by slow-speed corners, masked the full extent of the problem.
“If you look at high-speed corners like Turn 6 in Bahrain, it’s quick, but not fully representative,” Komatsu said. “With hindsight, Turn 12 actually hinted at this issue. But because it’s a flat-out corner, it didn’t cost us lap time, so we didn’t focus on it.”
‘We Missed It’—Haas Admits Winter Testing Mistakes
Komatsu openly admitted that Haas failed to catch the problem during winter development.
“Honestly, we didn’t do a good enough job over the winter. We completely missed this issue.”
One reason? The problem isn’t easily detectable in traditional wind tunnel or CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) simulations.
“This is actually quite a complex issue. It’s not something that stands out in the wind tunnel. The tools we have in CFD and aerodynamics modeling are areas where, frankly, we are behind.”
While the team is now fully focused on solving the problem, Komatsu acknowledged how damaging it could have been if it had gone unnoticed for longer.
“Imagine if we had gone five, six, or seven races before realizing we had a fundamental issue. At least we caught it early.”
How Long Until Haas Can Fix It?
The big question now is: how quickly can Haas implement a solution?
Komatsu remains optimistic, but he’s also realistic.
“We’re hoping for an initial short-term fix by the third race in Japan. But because this issue is so serious, it will require multiple iterations in CFD and the wind tunnel. It will take several races before we have a fully developed solution.”
For now, Haas is in damage control mode—acknowledging the problem, identifying solutions, and racing against time to stay competitive in 2024.
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Haas Faces Major Aero Crisis: VF-25 Struggles Exposed Haas Faces Major Aero Crisis: VF-25 Struggles Exposed
