Taking the reins at Haas after Guenther Steiner’s surprise exit, Ayao Komatsu faced a challenging task. The American team had battled throughout the previous season, despite strong qualifying performances, particularly from Nico Hulkenberg.
However, inherent rear tire wear hampered both drivers in races, causing them to fall down the order. Further setbacks came with an unsuccessful upgrade at the US Grand Prix and the leadership change. Given these hurdles, Komatsu opted for a dose of realism, predicting Haas would be at the back of the grid in 2024.
Given our limited resources and a late start, compounded by the time lost during the Austin upgrade, I anticipated that teams with similar or even greater resources would achieve comparable or superior results.
I couldn’t rely on others underperforming; we had to create our success. Our small team of 300 people faced significantly larger competitors. Rather than dwelling on past setbacks, we focused on improvement.
Setting a modest target of eighth place in Bahrain would have indicated either overconfidence or poor judgment. Fortunately, others faltered, but we couldn’t depend on such luck. Ultimately, we must forge our path to success.
