Haas F1's Near-Miss at Suzuka: A Mixed Outcome

After securing two top-10 finishes, Haas F1 barely missed points at Suzuka, despite VF-24’s unsuitability for the track.

After two top-10 finishes, Haas F1 ended just outside the points at Suzuka, on a track that didn’t suit the characteristics of the VF-24. Team Director Ayao Komatsu is pleased with the positive result, though he doesn’t hide a touch of disappointment at narrowly missing out on points.

“Feelings are mixed after Suzuka because in the end, we missed the top 10 by five seconds with Nico, which is very frustrating,” Komatsu admits. “On the bright side, our race pace was much better than what we saw earlier in the weekend, so the changes made after FP3 and before qualifying worked well.”

“We just need to start our weekends better because we hit the track with poor car balance and since FP2 was wet, it put us on the back foot on Saturday. So, that’s something we need to improve on.”

Hülkenberg was very impressive from the back of the grid after a botched second start, and Komatsu notably mentions only the German among his two drivers. He implies that without the start issue, points could have been scored.

“In the race with Nico, the first start went well, but at the second start, he didn’t execute the procedure correctly, thus triggering the anti-stall system and losing positions. From there, climbing back up to nearly scoring points was very encouraging, so that’s the positive we’ll take away.”