For most of the season, Haas have occupied 6th place in the standings – within touching distance of Williams for the unofficial ‘best of the rest’ title. After scoring just 9 points in the last 8 races, however, Haas now find themselves 9th in the Championship – with only Alpine further behind.
Conscious of this decline, team principal Ayao Komatsu calls on his personnel to stop making unforced errors.
Haas fail to capitalise on British GP opportunity
Of all the team in the midfield, Haas are arguably the most difficult to assess in 2025.
On paper, the American squad’s trajectory this year is relatively standard. Aside from a nightmare season opener in Australia, they have consistently battled for points.
Upgrades to the VF-25 have generally worked as expected, allowing Haas to keep up in F1’s development race.
A deeper analysis, however, shows that Ayao Komatu’s campaign has been extremely volatile.
Both Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman have suffered many Q1 exits, though paradoxically, rarely at the same time.
It is not uncommon for one Haas to start in the top 10, whilst the other qualifies at the back of the field.
The British GP was no exception, with Bearman making it into Q3 whilst Ocon could only manage 15th.
There are many other example of this, such as in Miami, where Ocon qualified 9th – in stark contrast to Bearman’s 20th place result.
For many reasons, Haas are often forced to pursue audacious strategies on Sundays to compensate for their poor Saturdays.
Although Haas can be credited for often salvaging results, it is not sustainable to consistently qualify so poorly.
Komatsu calls on Haas to optimise VF-25’s potential
Since taking the helm, Ayao Komatsu’s leadership has seen a fundamental change in the team’s operational efficiency.
This is evident both on the track and away from it, with Haas now holding their own in the midfield battle.
Of course, this does not mean there are not vulnerabilities to address.
Upgrades to the VF-25 in Silverstone showed promise, namely with Oliver Bearman’s pace on Saturday.
Unfortunately for Haas, contact between their drivers essentially ruined any chances of points – despite the large volume of DNF’s at the British GP.
Even before then, the team were relying on strategic gambles to put themselves back in contention.
When reflecting on Haas’ race, Ayao Komatsu was clear and direct in his analysis:
“I can’t hide away from the fact that we executed a terrible race today, we have to be better.
“In terms of machinery, I think we have a good car now and it’s really competitive.
“Whether it’s competitive everywhere I don’t know. But in Silverstone with the upgrade – all credit to the team that made this happen – we have a strong car, and we’ve proved that.
“Today, however, we didn’t do justice to the car or the team, so there’s a lot to learn from as a group.
“It’s not just today, as a whole we need to focus on how we get a clean weekend together…
“We shouldn’t be starting from P14 and P18 where we’re then trying to force the result.
“We need to focus on executing three clean days on a race weekend and getting the result that our car deserves.”
The good news for Haas is that, by in large, they should be fighting for points every weekend.
Still, the midfield has evolved significantly since the beginning of the year.
Sauber and Aston Martin have made considerable progress, with Hulkenberg’s podium coming after three consecutive points finishes.
With VCARB a consistent threat for points, and even Alpine capable of pulling off a surprise, Haas must avoid the missteps of previous events.
Main photo: Andy Hone/LAT Images (via Haas media gallery)
