This team boss literally became sick from his own team this season

14:35, 11 Aug

byLudo van Denderen

Team boss Ayao Komatsu is very proud of his Haas F1 team, after what was a difficult start to the season, to say the least. After the Grand Prix of Australia, the Japanese man was even literally sick of his team.

If there is one conclusion to be drawn after the first part of the season, it is that for Haas it has been 'a roller coaster of a season'. Asked by GPblog how Komatsu looks back, he explains being particularly proud of the huge turnaround his team has managed to achieve during the year.

“Preseason testing was pretty smooth then we had that bomb in Melbourne that was seriously a shock right and then I just never forget that feeling honestly literally I felt sick you know because you're not just last, you are last by like six tenths to P19. Then you got pretty big fundamental issue, right?”

Komatsu saw 'a serious problem'

Instead of wallowing in self-pity, everyone within Haas worked incredibly hard to turn things around. “Honestly, we didn't sleep much in Melbourne. Then we started understanding, okay, where the issues are, what can we do, because we cannot wait until the next planned upgrade because it's a serious issue. And we cannot be completely at the mercy of the tracks we go to.”

Already in Japan, Haas made a step forward, and after the upgrades in Imola and Silverstone, further progress was made. “With the Silverstone upgrade, we got a car we can fight in the top 10 if we execute every single time.”

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“So I'm very proud of our team as well. So lots of positives. Then we got 35 points, it's a P9, but it's eight points to a P6. It's all very tight.”

'Haas as a team has grown'

According to Komatsu, the way Haas managed to bounce back after Melbourne is testament to how the team has grown. “If that had happened like 12 months earlier, I think that would have been catastrophic. But at least through the year, we built the foundations; foundation of trust, supporting each other, working together.”

“So we could deal with that situation. I couldn't be happier with the reaction I got. And then have the VF25 as competitive as it is now, is nothing short of amazing from everyone in the team.”