'We never expected it' – Komatsu says securing P6 in his first season as Haas boss would ‘mean everything’

Haas boss Ayao Komatsu says that it would “mean everything” for the squad to clinch sixth place in the constructors’ championship in his first season as Team Principal – particularly given that their performance so far this year has surpassed his expectations for 2024.

After stepping up to take over the role following Guenther Steiner’s exit in January, Komatsu gave a modest prediction for where he anticipated Haas would place in the pecking order this year.

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However, the American outfit have enjoyed some strong performances throughout the campaign so far, leading to them currently holding P6 in the constructors’ standings with 46 points to their name, giving them a 10-point lead over closest challengers RB.

Reflecting on the car’s continued progression, Komatsu said during the Mexico City Grand Prix weekend: “It’s great that we brought multiple upgrades throughout the year and every single one of them made the car go faster, which wasn’t the case before, so that gave us lots of confidence.

“[At] Silverstone, the upgrade was significant and then what we put [on the car] in Austin was an evolution of that, so that really is pleasing to see, how the whole team is working now.”

Pushed on how much it would mean to secure sixth place in his first campaign as Team Principal, Komatsu said: “I think it means everything. At the start of the season, our target was P8 in the championship – we never expected us to be able to fight for P6.

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“But with all the upgrades we brought to the car – and then our drivers’ performance – we are fighting for P6 which is a great place to be, and everybody is looking forward to every single race which was not the case last year, so we are all going all in to try to get P6 in the championship.”

Since stepping into his new position, Komatsu has made some changes within the team in order to encourage everybody to work together – changes he talked through at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez…

“[In terms of the] biggest things I’ve changed behind the scenes, I guess it’s more in the culture, communication, togetherness, just to work as a team,” he explained.

“Everything for me is focused on what can I do better to get us to work as a team, because we are such a small team, if we’re not working as a team we stand no chance.

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“But at the same time, I believe that we’ve got very good individuals, so it’s a matter of providing that environment, putting it together, let them flourish and then I think what you see in our upgrade is a result of that, so I’m really pleased about that.”