What’s the state of play at F1’s smallest team?

Cast your mind back a few months, if you will, and stop when you reach 15 March. It wouldn’t be surprising if you don’t remember it; the sheer length of Formula 1 seasons today can feel wearisome. So here’s a reminder: this was the day of the 2026 Chinese Grand Prix, only the second race in F1’s brave and controversial new era.  

The less said about the technical teething problems the better, but this was a race where neither McLaren made the start due to two different battery issues, and Red Bull looked out for the count, with its RB22 still undercooked at that point in time. As such, significant rewards were on the table for the usual midfield runners in China, and fifth place ended up being heavily contested between Pierre Gasly and Ollie Bearman. Alpine was up against Haas, and Haas won the battle.  

It was the high point (so far) of Haas’s season. As the other teams got their act together over the opening stages of 2026, the American squad fell back. Alpine and Racing Bulls made huge strides forward, excluding Haas in their own battle over fifth in the constructors’ championship. Instead, Haas was forced to look nervously over its shoulder as it endured an eight-round dry spell without a points finish, presenting Audi with an opportunity to close the gap.  

There have been two significant contributing factors that led to Haas’s barren run: a parts consistency issue, and its late May Montreal updates failing to offer the expected gains in performance. The first, effectively, can be explained like this: if Haas has both cars in exactly the same specification, it is not guaranteed that the two cars will perform in exactly the same way, even with the tiny manufacturing tolerances involved.

The root cause is unclear, and team principal Ayao Komatsu says that this isn’t something that the team has entirely got to the bottom of yet, but it has ended up in the situation where one car is simply giving up more performance than the other.  

Komatsu says that, although the team has not experienced the issue of performance splits since Monza in September, it’s “lingering in the back of our mind” during the build phase of the car at each grand prix. The aim within the team is to have a clearer picture of the consistency issue before the end of the season; while some have linked it to quality control, this remains uncertain.  

Bearman delivered best result of the season so far in China, but that high point of fifth now seems a long way off

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images

The other issue was its Montreal update, introducing a new floor and a new sidepod construction. While this brought some extra performance, it did not deliver the time gains expected through its simulations – and also took the team down a path that Ron Dennis might have termed a ‘developmental cul-de-sac’.

Between Montreal and Monza, the team effectively had to reverse course, take the pre-update baseline, and plot a new direction. This, says Komatsu, appears to have worked; the VF-26 has shown much-improved performance of late, greasing the team’s path to a double-points finish in Baku.  

“I think clearly how we started the season, how we prepared for this massive regulation change – the biggest regulation change I’ve ever seen in my 23 years [of F1] – especially as a smaller team, I think how we prepared for that, especially considering how much we pushed last year to the end, was very, very impressive,” reckons Komatsu.

“The team’s operation has improved a lot. I always said when the car is not competitive, everybody’s still got to do their very best in their own area” Ayao Komatsu

“Everybody’s done an amazing job, scoring so many points at the first couple of races – that it comes back to testing, comes back to the shakedown, comes back to the car build, comes back down to how we managed to do the parallel development of 2025 and 2026.  

“So all that leading up to it, I think we did a very, very good job, and also learning from mistakes and putting the upgrade package in Monza, again shows that in the toughest of times if the team sticks together, supports each other and then works together to the common goal, we proved again we can put impressive upgrades on the car. 

“The team’s operation has improved a lot. I always said when the car is not competitive, everybody’s still got to do their very best in their own area. Then when the car is quick enough, we can take advantage, which is exactly what happened in Madrid and then Baku. Everyone’s execution was amazing.

Montreal updates brought some performance, but ended up causing a car development volte face

Photo by: Guido De Bortoli / LAT Images via Getty Images

“That doesn’t happen overnight, that’s because everybody’s been pushing like crazy; while the car’s not capable of scoring points, nobody gave up. Everybody’s been pushing, so then I feel like Baku, and even Madrid, we qualified well, we raced very well, so that again shows the strength and growth of the team. 

“The negatives are that in the upgrade we did in Montreal,” he continues, “in terms of performance of that car, not only we went in the wrong direction, but certain parts of the car didn’t deliver as expected, so that’s like a double-whammy, right?” 

Being F1’s smallest team

In terms of bang-for-buck, Haas’s progress has been remarkable in recent years. With around 400 people working for the team, it is by far the smallest operation on the F1 grid; even Cadillac has surpassed its compatriot team’s headcount across 2026. Financially speaking, Haas is also not quite operating at the cost cap.

By those metrics, then, it is undeniably impressive that the team is sitting seventh in the constructors’ championship above a raft of far wealthier teams – even if its shallower resource pool ultimately makes it more difficult for Haas to compete in the annual development race. 

When the team has to contend with something like its Montreal package failing to fire up as expected, it’s even more of a broadside to its aspirations; fewer resources generally produce longer lead times, so the challenge of changing course only magnifies.  

“The fact that it took from Montreal up until Monza to really rectify that wrong direction, it’s a long time from some point in May to Monza in September, that is a negative,” Komatsu adds. “But again, it goes back to the positive side; every mistake, every failure we have, we’ve got to take that as an opportunity to improve, and we’ve done that, so it’s a massive positive now. 

Komatsu cites Monza update package as an illustration of the team’s resilience and capacity to learn from mistakes

Photo by: Alessio Morgese

“We proved ourselves. We identified the problem, stuck together, believed in our process, believed in our people, solved it and put the performance on the car. The drivers are very happy with the car now – it’s night and day, so now we are looking how can we bring that upgrade forward if we had made the same mistakes, but also fundamentally why did we make mistakes, and what can we do to make sure we don’t make the same mistake again?” 

The undercurrent to all this is Haas’s developing technical relationship with Toyota, which is starting to bear fruit. The use of Toyota’s driver-in-loop simulator in Epsom has been something of a precursor to the Japanese car giant’s collaboration in developing a new sim for the team’s base in Banbury, and Toyota engineers have also become embedded in the team’s testing of previous cars (TPC) programmes.

Over the coming seasons, the technical links between Haas and Toyota should continue to deepen. In terms of finance, Haas has been on the hunt for additional partners to expand its budget, which Komatsu now believes is “a clear, decent step up from this year” and should give the team the capability to invest more into its own infrastructure.  

“Speed is not something you can teach. But in terms of tyre management, in terms of racecraft, that’s something, to a certain extent, you can teach” Ayao Komatsu

That said, the team continues to hold links to both Toyota and Ferrari, leaning on both for some of the key technical resources: it has its design office at Maranello, and the team continues to use Ferrari’s wind tunnel. This means that Haas does not need to expend vast quantities of capital into its own big-ticket developments, meaning that it can focus its spend on other areas.  

Preparing for life after Ocon

One of those areas has been the TPC programme in conjunction with Toyota. Prior to the start of 2025, Haas simply did not have the resources to put together a team dedicated to running its old cars; now, with Toyota support, it has been able to run its cars across Europe and in Japan. 

This, conveniently, tied in directly with Haas’s progress in finally identifying its 2027 driving line-up, when it was confirmed that Esteban Ocon would not stay at the team for 2027, followed by the news that he would be replaced by current F2 points leader Rafael Camara. 

Things just didn’t work out at Haas with one-time grand prix winner Ocon

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Formula 1 via Getty Images

For some months, Haas used its TPC tests to assess potential drivers, based on their abilities on a real-world circuit rather than from simulator data alone. This had followed rumours that Ocon would not be renewed for 2027, and it was abundantly clear that Haas was looking for a successor to the Frenchman.

Simply put, Ocon and Haas just didn’t seem to work out; even though the one-time grand prix winner was plagued with the car consistency issues at the start of the year, Haas perceived that Ocon had his own issues with consistency, especially when measured against Bearman. 

Bearman’s position, however, was always at the behest of Ferrari; given the Briton’s continually impressive performances, it is commonly assumed that the Essex-born driver will be Lewis Hamilton’s successor whenever the seven-time champion calls it a day. Until that time, Haas has been keen to keep Bearman under lock and key.  

“When you look at the overall picture, I think for me it was time to make a change,” Komatsu states. “In terms of ultimate speed, the performance that he [Ocon] can produce when everything lines up, there’s no doubt [about his ability].” Reading between the lines, perhaps it was felt that the stars just didn’t line up enough.  

Camara, Haas reserve driver Ryo Hirakawa and 2025 F2 champion Leonardo Fornaroli were the most called-upon drivers for the TPC runs. In the light of Camara’s confirmation, Komatsu has said that the idea of fielding two Ferrari juniors does not bother him; he adds that Haas had absolute liberty to take whomever it believed to be the fastest driver, rather than leaning on affiliations. 

“We’ve been more focused on pure performance [in the TPC tests],” Komatsu says. “Why? Because speed is not something you can teach. But in terms of tyre management, in terms of racecraft, that’s something, to a certain extent, you can teach. So we [were] more focused on those attributes that drivers have got to have and we cannot teach. That’s why you’re winning races and championships in the lower formula.” 

Haas is happy to keep Ferrari-tied Bearman on board for the time being

Photo by: Alex Pantling / LAT Images via Getty Images

Komatsu says that having the liberty of choice is not one often afforded to Haas, and it wanted to get the call on its 2027 line-up correct. In Bearman, it already has a driver who is continuing to grow – and may flourish even further with the de facto ‘lead driver’ mantle. Other than Bearman, it has had a less easy time with rookie drivers, so it’s no surprise that the TPC running has been extensive. 

It’s a sign of how far the team has come that the top rookies have wanted to be associated with Haas, knowing that they’d join up with an efficiently run midfield-level operation, rather than a team that – five years ago – was treading water with paying drivers and living a hand-to-mouth existence.

This goes for engineers too; the F1 job market has been incredibly competitive of late, and the increase in financial resources helps the team become attractive to quality personnel.  

Komatsu, for his part, has continued to sell that dream. As a key part of the team’s revival, he can look upon his achievements with some satisfaction as he aims to guide Haas to the next step. A first podium finish? A first win? That’s the plan – but can Haas get there?

This article is one of many in the monthly Autosport magazine. For more premium content, take a look at the November 2026 issue and subscribe today.

Komatsu, here with new signing Camara, says the liberty of driver choice is not one often afforded to Haas

Photo by: Haas F1 Team