Komatsu: Drivers rules of engagement will be clarified before first race

Haas will have a totally new driver lineup in 2025 with Esteban Ocon joining from Alpine while rookie Oliver Bearman was promoted from Formula 2, thus replacing Nico Hülkenberg and Kevin Magnussen at the American F1 outfit.

Bearman recently claimed his main target would be to beat his teammate, Ocon, who has had quite a history clashing with teammates. The Frenchman had many flashpoints with Sergio Perez, who was his teammate at Force India. The same happened with Fernando Alonso and Pierre Gasly at Alpine.

But Komatsu is adamant he will keep his drivers under control in 2025; he said: "Rules of engagement have to be totally clear. From day one. So, that will be clarified before the first race.

“I don't expect any teammate contacts, DNFs, because of that. But it's good; you have to race hard," he added.

The Japanese engineer will take inspiration from the manner in which he managed Magnussen and Hulkenberg in 2021, who only had one altercation at the 2024 Austrian Grand Prix when a slow pit stop meant Hulkenberg was passed by Magnussen, which ended in the teammate slugging it out on track.

He said: "Look at last year—Kevin is a hard racer, and then Kevin and Nico, the closest we came to an issue, which didn't become an issue, was Austria, right? But that's partly because we operated in a not-perfect manner in terms of pit stop timing. We didn't help ourselves.

“So, as a team, we shouldn't be creating those messes. But also, with the understanding of each other as teammates, the rules of engagement would be perfectly clear," Komatsu concluded.