Ayo Komatsu: Haas lacks resources

      Haas team principal Ayo Komatsu stated that the team fell behind their rivals in the race for car upgrades due to limited resources. According to him, the successful start of the season was made possible because the engineers focused on the basics when developing the new car, but then the lack of people and tools began to affect the pace of modernization of the VF-26. Ayo Komatsu: "This season clearly shows the strengths and weaknesses of our team. To be honest, we started the championship much better than I expected. This is the most significant transition to a new technical regulation in the history of Formula 1. We remain the smallest team in the championship, not counting Cadillac, which is having its debut season. Therefore, I thought that at the beginning of the year we would be fighting at the back of the pack. We focused on the most important things – we built the car on time, fully completed the testing program, and made it reliable, because without that, it is impossible to learn and develop. Of course, we made some mistakes, but by the first race, we already understood quite well how to get the most out of the car. Then we took our chances. I always say that you need to be ready to seize any opportunity. If the car allows you to finish fifth, then you need to be fifth. If its level is tenth or fifteenth place, you need to occupy those positions. Even if the car can only fight for fifteenth place, you never know what will happen ahead, but the main thing is to be close. That’s why we started the season so strongly. This is entirely the merit of our staff, and they deserve the highest praise. The lag in the race for upgrades was a consequence of the constraints we are working under. Our employees have to cope with a lack of people, tools, and resources. Despite this, they are once again showing their character. We openly acknowledge the existing problems and are trying to solve them as quickly as possible. To be honest, I believe that I have not yet managed to create the conditions for them to fully realize their potential. Right now, I am focused on that. The fact that we started to lag in the development of the car is not related to the level of our specialists. It’s all about the conditions in which they have to work, and the responsibility for this lies primarily with me. I want to change this situation as soon as possible because their potential is indeed very high. Considering that there are only about 400 people in the team, the results they achieve are truly impressive."