“We see clearly different deployment capabilities in our strategy… cannot draw any conclusion from that.”
– Ayao Komatsu
The 50-year-old team boss, speaking about where he believes Haas sits among the midfield runners, was quick to praise the speed of the Audi power unit, before stressing how he believes performance could prove to be largely circuit-specific.
“We are mixed with Red Bull, Audi, us [Haas], and Alpine. But then, if we raced well, I knew we could be at the front end of it. I think Audi is very quick, and Red Bull is quick as well. So I think we are all together, basically, depending on the circuit we go to,” the Haas team boss told GPblog.
“I don’t know how you can say ours are clearly better than Audi. I don’t know what you’re looking at to say that. Have you looked at GPS traces? No, I don’t think you can say that at all. Again, when I say power, I’m purely looking at results and speed on the tracks,” Komatsu explained.
Ayao Komatsu during an F1 press conference – Photo: Race Pictures
Further adding credence to his explanation, Komatsu detailed how both the internal combustion engine and the energy deployment of the midfield teams are particularly impressive, before setting the record straight about the fact that he is not taking a swipe at the Scuderia Ferrari power unit, which his team uses.
“You know, whether it’s coming from the ICE or from energy deployment. But if we look at what they can do on the straight, Audi is very good. I’m shocked when you said we are clearly better than Audi. By the way, this is me not having a go at, this is in no way me having a go at Ferrari or anything, but I think it was interesting, as we are fighting against actually four PU manufacturers.”
“So we had Red Bull with Ford, then Audi with Audi, and Alpine with Mercedes. When we are racing against those guys, we see clearly different deployment capabilities in our strategy. So we had to learn that very quickly, and for sure, I cannot draw any conclusion that, on that straight-line speed side, we are ahead. It was actually very difficult. As you saw, it was very difficult to overtake,” Komatsu concluded.
Haas led the midfield teams that picked up points last time out in Melbourne. Driver Oliver Bearman finished in seventh place, putting his team currently ahead of the trio of Red Bull, Audi, and Alpine.
Komatsu Calls for Swift Ruling on Saudi and Bahrain GPs
The 50-year-old, in his assessment, stressed that a swift call would largely help the team plan their logistics and car development strategies.
GPblog Paddock Update
Want to stay up to date with the latest events from the F1 paddock? GPblog’s Paddock Update is the place to be.
Check out the latest episode of our Paddock Update here 👇