Very little coverage has followed Haas during the winter break so far. As a team with relatively limited resources, they are not among those expected to take F1 by storm in 2026.
Having said that, under the leadership of Ayao Komatsu, Haas have become a very competitive midfield team. Despite having fewer personnel and far smaller-scale infrastructure than rivals, the US squad have managed to establish themselves as an efficient group.
Haas were among the only teams to bring an update at the end of 2025, as they pushed to gain positions in the constructors. Crucially, even with this late upgrade push, Komatsu’s personnel were already far along in their development for 2026.
Haas detail 2026 development journey
Allocating a team’s wind tunnel hours and manpower is always difficult, but this challenge is particularly acute when taking into consideration a new set of regulations.
Haas face this challenge with significantly fewer staff at their disposal than others. In some cases, the US outfit are operating with a workforce a third of the size of bigger teams.
Still, Haas are no strangers to operating with limited ammunition. Because of this, they committed a portion of their engineers to focus solely on the 2026 cars at the end of 2024.
Technical Director Andrea De Zordo has spoken about some of the team’s key decisions heading into this season:
“It actually started [2026 development] in the second half of 2024, with a small group looking at the concept of the new car. And it remained with that group until the launch of the VF-25.
“The split between resources from there continued to increase towards the 2026 program, fully switching over after the summer break last season.
“We had a small group still working on the VF-25 until pretty late on due to the tight championship fight, and that was a challenge to manage. It was about deciding the main points of focus for both 2025 and 2026, without losing too much time on what we knew would be a big season.
“I think the most visible changes will be the different-looking front wing and rear wing. The addition of a board in the side of the car before the floor that wasn’t there before, and the fact that the cars will be slightly smaller…
“In my opinion, the biggest change isn’t visible. It’s the different split of energy for the power unit, between the internal combustion engine and the electrical part.
“It’s a monumental change and one that will impact the way we go racing.”
Haas work on the finer details
For obvious reasons, a midfield team like Haas is going to generate fewer headlines than a front-runner like Mercedes.
In many ways, Ayao Komatsu would prefer for his team to go under the radar. After all, not carrying the weight of expectations can be beneficial given the demands presented by the 2026 cars.
Still, Haas should not be written off. Unlike many of their counterparts, there is continuity and stability at the US team.
Whilst there might be less raw potential at Haas, there is also a lower chance of things going catastrophically wrong. Their technical department is highly competent and dynamic, as previous campaigns have demonstrated.
It would not be a surprise if Haas again contend for points and cement themselves in the midfield this season.
Main photo: Lars Baron/LAT Images (Haas F1 Media Gallery)
