Ayao Komatsu has explained in full the troubles that Haas found out in F1 Australian GP especially in the high-speed corner, which is fundamental in nature.
It wasn’t the start that Haas had hoped for in F1 Australian GP when it found out a fundamental problem with its VF-25 especially in the high-speed corners, where it would loose insane about of pace resulting in time loss – as much as six-tenths as per team boss Komatsu.
It was so bad that Komatsu thought the car is broken. None in the team could accept the situation and it took them a day or two to realise the trouble they are in. But once they accepted their fate, work started to minimise the issues for few races, since solving would take whole lot of time.
They managed to do something in Australia and for China too, where they have looked a touch better. They are expected to bring some new stuff in Japan too, which is a risk as per Komatsu, but it is one they have to take as only then they can ascertain if they are in right direction to solve the problem.
It is a tricky situation for Haas with 2026 work, but Komatsu has been preparing the outfit for any issues like these. Having had a fairly good 2024, it is their first fall under the Japanese team principal. They want to use this drop as a learning chapter to be ready for any such issues in the future as well.
One-off, problem –
Komatsu: “I don’t think it’s a one-off. It was a big surprise, we weren’t expecting that whatsoever based on Bahrain testing. Yes, Bahrain testing wasn’t perfect, but we weren’t expecting it anywhere near as bad as Melbourne. But honestly, in FP1, on a very fast lap when the car went out, I thought either something was broken or something is completely out of the ballpark. Then when we established, right, nothing’s broken, we’ve got a big issue. From that point, of course, we’re not going to have any new parts from FP2 to FP3, it is a matter of: ‘How can we make this better?’ It was pretty clear the problem was in high speed, Turn 9, Turn 10. Then we just worked and worked to make those corners better with the expense of low speed. But even then, low-speed corners are okay, not great – but compared to the issue we had in Turns 9 and 10, it’s night and day.
“So then by Q1, we managed to get Turn 9 more or less respectable but Turn 10, still nowhere. We understand why, but with the issues we have, we cannot solve it for all corners, right? So I think at least we took [the] correct steps during the weekend. So I think at least we took correct steps during the weekend, FP1 to FP2 to FP3 to qualify. But seriously, I think that’s the best we could do with the Melbourne circuit characteristics, our car’s weakness that we discovered in Melbourne, and then characteristics of Turn 10 as a corner. Seriously, that was, I think, the best. So then at least then we have understanding clearly what the issue is.
“Then next point is to understand which part of the car we need to modify to…which part of the car has the sensitivity to solve this performance issue. So up to this point, we are reasonably clear. Then, of course, next is how are we going to find a solution? Then some of them can be reasonably short-term solutions, but some of them will be an iterative process, both in CFD and wind tunnel. So you’re not going to see a solution for some races. So, yeah, it’s pretty severe.”
What happened in winter –
Komatsu: “Yeah, it’s both in terms of like, so we put performance on the car over the winter. Then, of course, you do simulator, you do simulations, but these are fine. But then when you come to, Corner 10 seriously just completely exposed it. You know, Corner 10’s got that deep compression in the middle of the corner as well. But again, Turn 9 to Turn 10 transition is just nowhere. But that’s a dynamic issue. Then it’s aerodynamic issue. So at least we understood that much. But it’s both combination of aerodynamic oscillation and then our rear downforce characteristics. Combination of that, if you only had one of them, you can live with. But when you superimpose those problems on top of each other, basically it just becomes very, very difficult to drive. So in essence, through Turn 10, the downforce, let’s say driver can extract. It’s probably same as what we had in Melbourne 2024. Seriously. Even though potentially the performance we have on the car, not potentially in the wind tunnel, the performance we have on the car at that speed is so much higher. You can’t extract it because it’s just not usable.
“So again, that’s what we need to address. That’s why, like I said, we made a compromise. We just focused on improving high speed because that was the biggest problem. Then we managed to make Turn 9 manageable. We can see on the data how the car is working at Turn 9 now. But then to have that, let’s say, car working at all different corners, 9, 10, 6, 5, 12, 11, 13, it’s impossible, right? Because of the fundamental limitation we have. So yeah, I think Melbourne, especially that corner, is the worst. But you have to almost change your mindset. At least we found that out in Race 1. Imagine we’ve been mediocre for 5-6-7 races. Then go to Melbourne and say, ‘oh shit, we’ve got a serious fundamental issue’. Then it’s quite deep into the season. At least we were all shocked on Friday. Then to some people it took a day to at least accept we have a serious issue. But now we know everybody now is completely flat out trying to solve the issue. Nobody’s questioning if we have an issue or not. We have one, right? The only way is how to go from here. How can we find a solution? How quickly can we find it? How are we going to face that end? In Shanghai here, of course we’ve got the same parts as Melbourne, right? But again, we learned an awful lot in terms of how to run the car, how to get the best out of it with the current configuration.
“And then certain things we learned from the race, we’ll be applying all that in FP1. And the FP1 will be just a test session, using two cars to generate as much data as possible and get as much driver feedback as possible. Again, another big issue was Oli in Melbourne. Because of his crashes, we got no feedback from Oli, right? Race is wet, so you have to take it with a pinch of salt. So, the limit of this car, so far, only feedback is Esteban, right? We really desperately need Oli’s feedback as well. So, that’s the target this weekend. I said to Oli, ‘you need to do every single lap plan from the run programme, that’s the target’. And then we devised a test program, considering both cars, considering how many runs we got each car, just so that we can provide the best possible data set back to the factory and provide feedback from both drivers. That’s the only way we can move forward.”
How it slipped in Bahrain testing –
Komatsu: “It’s the circuit characteristics of Bahrain. If you look at the high-speed corners, like Turn 6 of Bahrain, yes, it’s a high-speed corner, but it’s not a very representative corner. And then looking back now, Turn 12 in Bahrain, it does show the characteristics, but the issue is that’s flat. It’s not a corner. So even though Esteban is kicking himself as well, he said, ‘I should have alerted you guys more’, but that was the corner that wasn’t costing lap time. So, ‘I didn’t say it, but now I’m experiencing what I’m experiencing in Melbourne’, that the underlying characteristics were there in Turn 12.
“So we missed it, honestly. We knew there was some aerodynamic oscillation, but we worked through it, then we found a solution, which was actually competitive in Bahrain. And then we still focused on the medium-high fuel runs. Had we known that we had the issue of what we had in Melbourne, for sure we’d have done more lower fuel, non-DRS laps, because that’s when the problems are most problematic. But honestly, it was a surprise to us in Melbourne.”
Fundamental issue or aero, any immediate parts incoming –
Komatsu: “Both. This is what I mean. So if you had one of them, it’s fine. It’s not fine, but it’s more manageable. When you’ve got both fundamental characteristics issues, then superimposed aerodynamic oscillations, basically, yeah, it’s a very, very difficult problem to solve. You can’t solve it. Not globally, anyway. So we solved it locally at Turn 9, but not at Turn 10, not at other corners. We’ve got a serious issue, right? But then we’ve got to be sensible. If you really, really just focus on short-term too much, it might damage your chance of sorting out properly medium-term, right? So you’ve got to really balance that. But for Suzuka, yes, we are trying to get some modification done to the car.
“Then what we believe is very sensitive to this problem that we probably, not probably, we definitely didn’t do a good job over the winter. We just missed it. And then again, you might ask why we missed it. Because it is actually quite a difficult problem, but it’s not something that you can see in the wind tunnel. So things like what you have on the CFD analysis methodology, even the wind tunnel data, tools you have, those are the areas I believe we are so far behind. So now we’ve got this issue. I mean, I understand why we couldn’t preempt it.”
Situation with 2026 –
Komatsu: “At the minute, no, because at this point, we are trying to develop 2025 anyway. And then second, you know, we were the slowest by country margin, right? Like six tenths, ridiculous amount. That is not sustainable to anyone, and as a team, if we don’t face this problem head on, we’re not going around it. So we are tackling it head-on. Then if we do it correctly, then as and when we find solution because, again, imagine you just leave it now. OK, forget about 2025, we move on to 2026, there is so much doubt in people’s confidence and capabilities and we don’t learn anything in terms of this failure. We might understand how we missed it, but we’re not putting anything in place to make sure things like this don’t happen.
“That very thing may not be applicable to 2026, but that process is the team working together, finding solutions and people and the team’s growth. It is very important we solve this issue. So at the moment, we’re not making any changes on the priority. Because I think this is very important going forward as a team. As a team, can we deal with this? I believe we can, but we have to prove it. And if we prove it, that gives confidence back to people. Honestly, really, really good thing is everybody’s accepting it now. This is a challenge, and everybody’s got urgency and pushing like crazy to find a solution. That’s all I can ask for.”
Aero or mechanical, inspiration from Ferrari last year –
Komatsu: “Aerodynamic, largely aerodynamic. That’s one of the areas (floor) clearly we’re looking at. Yes, absolutely. Yes, it’s possible. But then again, this is the thing. I’ve been saying this inside for the last nine months. Even in the middle of the VF24 development, we’ve been putting good development on the car. But at some point, we’re going to drive into this issue. Because if big teams, capable teams like Ferrari, Mercedes, Red Bull, everybody at some point driving into this issue, for sure, we will face the same issue again. So, we have to be ready for it. So, that’s what I was saying. But then it’s difficult in the sense that to be ready for it because you don’t know what mechanism you are missing to create this problem.
“And now this problem happens, then when you’re really looking through the steps and the iterations between the end of the season VF24 to VF25, there is some crew where we started pushing certain things too much to create this kind of issue. But then again, Ferrari…obviously, when they had that issue, they didn’t have that level of understanding, right? And through…whatever many weeks and months, I’m sure their tools and understanding exponentially grew. So that’s why they’re not making the same mistake this year, right? So, unfortunately, we have to go through that ourselves. It’s not something we can shortcut?”
Problems in Shanghai –
Komatsu: “I think Turn 1 entry and then Turn 7 would be challenging [in Shanghai]. But the thing is, again, we have to see. But other than those two corners, minimum speed of the corners are much lower here. That’s not to say we can be better, but again, lap time sensitivity is different as well. Like Turn 9-10, even once we got Turn 9 correct, with Turn 10 all the way to 11, we lost four tenths in qualifying. Four-tenths. Just one corner.”
How long to suffer –
Komatsu: “I wish I knew. Seriously, I don’t. I don’t know because we’ve got to develop our tools very, very quickly, which is not an overnight job. And then some of the modifications, some of them, I feel we can take some risks. It’s all about risks, right? If you really want to be 100% sure, let’s say this modification will solve the issue, then you have to go through iterative process in the wind tunnel, right? And CFD. So it’s about managing the risk, I think. Whether you’re going to decide to send and make the parts that you have only 60% confidence, or you’re going to spend more time making sure like you have 90% confidence this is going to work. But that’s depending on either circuit sensitivity as well. So, we’ll see what we can do here in Shanghai. I’m not holding a huge amount of hope, but again, circuit characteristics is different, like you said.
“And then Suzuka will be another story. And in Suzuka, like I said, we’re going to try to bring slight modification to the car. How much does it improve at all? We believe so, that’s why we’re bringing it. But if it does, how much does it improve? If it improves a great amount, that puts us in more battle with other cars, maybe the next, let’s say, solution, we can take more time in the wind tunnel and CFD to make sure that will work. But if what we do in Suzuka is making minimum difference, we might have to take more chances on the second one, right? So, it’s all a moving target. But at least I’m just trying to put everyone on the same page, so that we all understand what we’re dealing with, what our approaches are. But honestly, I am happy with people’s reaction. So, that’s positive. Then we just got to do it.”
