Komatsu does not want to make predictions, but hopes for new products.

      Haas F1 cars in Austin will feature not just a special livery but, according to the head of the American team, several "small technical upgrades."

      With six rounds remaining in the season Haas sits second-last in the Constructors' Championship, but trails Sauber, who are in eighth place, by only nine points; they are 22 points behind Aston Martin, who sit one place above, and 26 behind Racing Bulls.

      At the same time, the difference in prize money between sixth and ninth place is estimated by experts to be roughly $30 million, and for independent teams that is a substantial sum.

      According to Ayao Komatsu, head of Haas F1, if the upgrades allow them to improve even slightly, the team could extract considerable benefit from that.

      "Their effectiveness hasn't been proven yet; I don't want to make any predictions," RacingNews365 quoted him as saying. "But look at how tight the results are now: in Singapore we were four hundredths short of eighth place in qualifying. So if the upgrades allow us to gain even 0.05 seconds, the difference can already be quite noticeable.

      If you think about who drops out in the first part of qualifying, those drivers are often less than a tenth (of a second) short of making it into the second session, so everything matters.

      I hope the upgrades will help us, although I don't know yet. First they need to be tested, their effectiveness assessed and we need to understand whether we've chosen the right direction. I can say one thing: we must not relax. So far we see that all our upgrades are working, but in Austin we need to approach things sensibly and evaluate everything in detail.

      Like all the other teams, we had to switch fairly early to work on the 2026 car, but we believe we'll have some opportunities in Austin. Of course, we need to act cautiously and keep the budget cap in mind, and for us this is a new experience, because until this season we were noticeably short of that level.

      This is the first year we have a full budget, so of course you have to leave a certain reserve in case of crashes or other unexpected events, which makes the issue quite complicated. We intended to continue upgrading the car only if necessary, but then the moment came when we decided to do so.

      With results as tight as they are, any upgrade can play its part, and then the team could move up one or two places in the Constructors' Championship, so I think we should seize that opportunity."