How Haas transformed their fortunes ahead of 2025

Haas owner Gene Haas will not put a single cent of his own money into his Formula 1 team for the upcoming season – for the first time since they entered the sport in 2016. But on top of that, the American squad are also set to become profitable.

This is a remarkable achievement for an operation that gives new meaning to the phrase “punching above their weight”. At around 320-people strong – 20 of those only starting in January – Haas are comfortably the smallest outfit on the grid. Some of the big teams have triple those numbers.

Their UK factory is easily the smallest and most basic of them all, sharing more resemblance with an outfit operating in junior formulae – and they lack key pieces of hardware, like a state-of-the-art simulator. Despite this, they finished a superb seventh in the Constructors’ Championship last year.

They scored points in eight of the last nine Grands Prix, representing their strongest-ever end to the season, to secure their second-best finish in the Constructors' and beat better-resourced teams in Racing Bulls, Williams and Kick Sauber.

NORTHAMPTON, ENGLAND - JULY 05: Gene Haas, Owner and Founder, Haas F1 Team prior to the F1 Grand — Gene Haas won't have to put his own money into his team in 2025

That finish yielded a healthy slice of the prize money pot and combined with impressive commercial interest – Toyota’s racing arm became a partner late last year to bring in tens of millions per year while MoneyGram remain a strong title partner – means the team will be pushing up to the budget cap for the first time.

“This year is the first time that, as a company, Gene doesn’t have to put his own money in,” said Team Principal Ayao Komatsu when I asked him about the growing commercial strength of the team. “We haven’t been hitting the budget cap, [but] we are hitting it this year.

“So, we have a different challenge of making sure we stay within the budget cap. It’s great that we finally got here, but in terms of mindset, it’s the same thing like trackside engineering.

“We really had to change the mindset of everyone, what is acceptable and what we have to strive for. It’s the same with this budget thing.

This year is the first time that, as a company, Gene doesn’t have to put his own money in
Ayao Komatsu, Haas Team Principal

“Before when we were under the budget cap, if we had money, we could spend it without worrying about it. Now we have to make sure we stay within the budget cap. So it’s a whole different mindset. But if you want to be competitive, that’s minimum where you should be.

“So, finally, it feels like we’re ticking many boxes – start doing TPC, be on the budget cap and being profitable. With the prize money from last year, sponsorship money etc, this year, Gene shouldn't have to put his money in. It’s the first time.”

The benefits of the Toyota relationship

As Komatsu mentioned, TPC (Testing of Previous Cars) is another significant milestone for the team. Almost all the teams have a heritage programme, that allows them to run old-spec machinery but Haas have never been in the position to do so.

This has meant they’ve missed out on using the programme to help race drivers dust off cobwebs or give reserve/development drivers mileage.

But the deal with Toyota Gazoo Racing has provided them with the cash to do so, with the first test taking place earlier this month across two days in Jerez with race drivers Esteban Ocon and Ollie Bearman plus Toyota junior Ritomo Miyata – and several more are planned for later in the year.

MONZA, ITALY - AUGUST 29: Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal, Haas F1 Team during previews ahead of the — Haas Team Principal Ayao Komatsu led the outfit to P7 in the Constructors' in 2024, their second-best finish

The relationship with the Japanese manufacturer will also yield the team’s first in-house simulator. Haas only managed 10-15 days of simulator running last year, borrowing partner Ferrari’s facility. That’s a drop in the ocean versus other teams.

Although it will take several years before the simulator is built and fully operational, you’ve got to start somewhere and it at least shows that Haas are making progress to shut the gap to the rest of the field in terms of resources.

'There are still so many things we need to do'

What Komatsu, who has only been in charge for around a year, has been able to do is deliver efficiencies within the team and start to restructure the organisation. Job one was refining the technical team and the way the technical office and wind tunnel operations worked together to ensure efficient real car feedback to strengthen the quality of car development.

The results were clear last year. The car was fast from the start and that momentum continued as the team brought upgrades more frequently.

Crucially, when they did bring new parts to the track and slap them on the car, there were tangible improvements in lap time. That’s not something that Haas have been very successful at in their so far nine-year existence, their failed Austin upgrade in 2023 the most recent example of their difficulties.

ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - DECEMBER 10: Oliver Bearman of Great Britain driving the (50) — Oliver Bearman will be embarking on his first full F1 season with Haas, alongside Esteban Ocon

So there is some much-needed stability heading into 2025 on the technical side, with Technical Director Andrea de Sordo, Head of Aerodynamics Davide Raganelli, Chief Designer Tom Coupland and Deputy Chief Designer Jonathan Heal impressing Komatsu.

Attention then turned to the trackside operation, which Komatsu admitted was “one of the weakest areas”. Sweeping changes – the biggest seen since they entered the sport in 2016 – will see a brace of new race engineers, promoted from within with Laura Mueller working with Esteban Ocon and Ronan O’Hare teaming up with Ollie Bearman as replacements for Mark Slade and Gary Gannon.

They’ll work under a new Chief Race Engineer with Francesco Nenci taking a role that has been vacant for a year and Haas bolstering with Mark Lowe returning in the newly-created position of Sporting Director, while Carine Cridelich fills the empty role of Head of Strategy.

Komatsu is aware there will be growing pains, but equally he knows that to take the next step, such changes are necessary.

“There are still so many things we need to do,” he said. “We finished P7 [in 2024]. Yes, the target is P6 [in 2025], but we haven’t achieved that consistent result [from one year to the next], so even fighting for the same position, P6/P7, would be a huge achievement.”