Haas F1’s VF-24 showcases unexpected competitive potential in early tests, as Team Principal Ayao Komatsu reveals optimism. Following a tough season, improvements in performance and driver confidence signal a promising turnaround.
Haas F1 has a VF-24 that could be more competitive in races than expected, according to team principal Ayao Komatsu.
Haas finished at the bottom of the constructors’ championship standings after a challenging 2023 season, often showing sustained pace in qualifying but slow in races due to rapid tire degradation on the VF-23.
After taking over from Gunther Steiner during the off-season, and before seeing the car on track, Komatsu warned that the start of this year might be tough, but he is now more positive about how the VF-24’s track debut has gone.
“Very well, really well,” Komatsu shares.
“It’s not perfect, but I would say rather correct. Everyone was focused on what we needed to achieve over these three days of testing, so that’s the basis on which we established our program, executed it, and the last two days went very, very well. We achieved our objectives, to the point that we even adjusted the program for the last day.”
“So, we are ahead of what we absolutely had to achieve during the testing program and have started to work a bit more on outright performance.”
Komatsu admits to being pleasantly surprised by the performance Haas has been able to extract from its 2024 car, highlighting the drivers’ confidence as one of the main satisfaction factors.
“Only next week’s Grand Prix will tell us for sure, so I don’t really want to say too much without being fully confident, but what I see is encouraging. The fact that I’m telling you we are ahead in terms of testing program tells you it’s a bit better than what I was expecting, if you will.”
“I think it’s because of the fundamental basis of the car, and its consistency, even if you can see on the GPS data that we are still lacking a lot of downforce – in high-speed corners, we are slow – but in terms of characteristics, predictability, there’s an improvement.”
“So, it’s a Formula 1 car that Nico and Kevin can make the most of more consistently, which they couldn’t do last year. So, it’s a decent improvement.”
Haas VF-24 Competitive Potential. Haas VF-24 Competitive Potential
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