Exclusive: Why Haas has returned to larger pitwall for 2025, after $250,000 saving in 2023

Haas has reversed its 2023 decision to slim down its Formula 1 pitwall gantry, with the American team sporting a six-seater set-up at Bahrain pre-season testing this year.

Two years at the same venue, Haas attracted attention by halving the size of its pitwall stand to just three seats – reserved for then team principal Guenther Steiner, his replacement, Ayao Komatsu and former Haas team manager, Peter Crolla.

Steiner said at the time that “when you need to make efficiency” in F1’s cost cap era, “you look in everything”.

He added: “When you need money to invest in development, because we have the cost cap, where do you put it?

“You have six people out there, or a quarter of a million on car updates? I know what we are doing.”

In 2024, Haas continued to use its three-person pitwall at all races – with Komatsu, team principal since the start of last season, and Crolla being joined by the team’s race strategist for each round.

The Haas F1 pitwall gantry in 2023

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

Autosport understands that the change to go back to a six-person pitwall gantry for 2025, which will be transported to all 24 races this season after Bahrain testing concludes this week, is related to the team’s recent staffing expansion.

This had begun with additional investment from Haas team owner Gene Haas in mid-2024, with the process then boosted by Toyota joining as a technical partner for the squad late last year, to slot in alongside the team’s long-term alliances with engine supplier Ferrari and chassis builder Dallara.

It is understood that one of the seats on Haas’s 2025 pitwall – which is the very same six-seat structure the team had been running before the 2023 season – will be reserved for a member of Toyota staff.

This includes Toyota Gazoo Racing director of global motorsport Masaya Kaji – although he is not set to be present at every F1 event this season.

The rest of the Haas pitwall team will be made up of Komatsu, new team sporting director Mark Lowe, new chief engineer Francesco Nenci, new team head of strategy Carine Cridelich, with a slot reserved for Gene Haas.

This can be filled with an additional engineer when Gene Haas is not taking said place on the pitwall.