One of the main issues that hindered Haas’s 2023 season was excessive tire wear, a problem that the team is still trying to address.
One of the main focuses of the American outfit’s winter break has been trying to understand how to reduce tire degradation during the race. Despite having finally found some answers, the new team principal Ayao Komatsu admitted that there are still some things that the team hasn’t comprehended yet.
“I don’t think we understand everything. I think we understand a significant part of it, but the only proof is if you can produce a car that can deal with the problem.
“I don’t like to sit here and say that we understand it 100%, We don’t. But we have a decent idea of why and where we need to focus on.”
Komatsu also highlighted that good communication between the different departments of the team is important to achieve the expected result. In his opinion, that is something Haas is lacking, and he wants to work on improving it.
“If we are not working in a very integrated manner, communicating properly between the aero department in Italy to the tire department in the UK, that is a problem.
“That working culture and practice is something I am going to focus on improving. We want to move as one.
“We’ve got a real car issue, accept it, then communicate and discuss it openly with all the relevant people. And even then, if around the table there is still a disagreement from certain people, you cannot avoid that.”