Haas were one of the positive surprises from the 2024 campaign, securing their best Championship finish since 2018. A series of changes implemented by Team Principal Ayao Komatsu had a profound impact on their performance and mid-season development.
Because of this, there an element of enthusiasm surrounding the American team heading into the new season
Of course, the challenge for Haas is to build upon their momentum. Komatsu has argued that a further increase in the team’s resources are essential to make further progress in the medium and long-term.
Regarding this season, Haas are already showing conviction and confidence in their development approach.
Why Haas are taking their own path
As a team with fewer resources at their disposal than anyone else in F1, Haas have benefited greatly from their partnership with Ferrari.
Fred Vasseur’s team have been integral for Haas since joining the grid, both in terms of sharing certain infrastructure and providing them with certain components.
However, the lack of development facilities and capabilities at Haas were historically a limiting factor in their own potential.
Things are slowly changing, with Komatsu implementing new procedures to improve communication and enhance efficiency. Despite the urgent need for more personnel, this is already generating positive results.
Perhaps most notably, the US outfit have chosen to retain the same front suspension as last season – opting against the new specification that Ferrari are bringing to the SF-25.
Haas believe they have a strong enough understanding of last year’s package to find performance gains elsewhere in the car.
This is also a pragmatic choice, dictated by the need to balance their efforts between 2025 and the 2026 cars.
Speaking ahead of pre-season testing, Haas’ Technical Director has explained the approach that was pursued over winter:
“Our focus was on the weaknesses identified in the VF-24,” said Davide Paganelli.
“With the help of the performance team, we tried to work on the whole car as a package to solve the problem
“In parallel, every year we try to note a point or a quality of the car that we can improve.
“Another important fact that we know, is that last year the car had some specific limitations and we tried to work in that area.”
A chance for Haas to consolidate
Like most teams, Haas understand the importance of being on the front-foot when the 2026 regulations come into place.
As opposed to front-running teams like Red Bull or Ferrari, prioritising the new generation of cars is a far more straightforward decision.
Having said that, last year was only the second time Haas finished above 8th in the standings in their F1 history.
They have no intention of throwing this season away, and are taking measures to establish themselves in the midfield:
“We have worked a lot on the rear of the car, especially the rear wing. I think we have done a very good job for 2025.
“We think the package we have designed is really good in terms of development.
“Obviously we need to verify that the numbers are what we expect. If we can see on the track what we think we will see in the wind tunnel, I think we can have a huge boost from the first race.”
