Komatsu hails reaction to Haas' early-season struggles

Haas competed well last time, picking up a respectable 58 points and finishing seventh in the constructor’s standings, but its 2025 season started with a whimper. Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman were well off the pace all weekend in Australia and ended up finishing last of the remaining runners.

Fast-forward to the Chinese Grand Prix, however, and Haas had regained their mojo. While Bearman qualified 17th, Ocon started a more competitive 11th. As the grand prix progressed, the pair appeared to have midfield-running pace, and with a bit of help from a double-Ferrari DNF, both went on to score points in Shanghai—racking up a handy 14 between them.

After the race, Komatsu was absolutely delighted, hailing the spirit of his team for turning their fortunes around so dramatically in just a few days between the two grand prix.

Komastu said: “It's an amazing reaction from the whole team. Australia was a shock to us. It's not something we were expecting based on Bahrain testing. But what a reaction!

“You know, everybody, people in Italy, the UK, and the US are working together trackside within the space of several days. Honestly, I'm so happy with the way we've been working since that shock to get the result here.

“I mean, it's not going to be like this at every circuit. I'm not kidding myself to say we have solved the problem; we haven't. Certain circuits we go to, we’re still going to have a big problem. But when we can operate the car in the way that we want to, thanks to the characteristics [of the car], this is what we can do; we delivered it today.”

On first glance, Haas’ Australian Grand Prix doesn’t seem too bad. 13th and 14th? We’ve been there before with Haas, right? Actually, the team’s performance was a lot worse on pace.

Haas’ lap times were way behind those of the midfield in Australia. In Q1, Ocon was a whopping six tenths off. In fact, it was so bad that Komatsu initially thought something was broken on the car. But no such luck; they were just miles slower through the high-speed bends.

No doubt, Haas didn’t magically fix this fault in China—it’s going to take time to fully understand and rectify the issue. And neither driver ultimately got anywhere near the points in Melbourne. But there were a few crumbs of comfort in their display.

As Australia was rain-affected, we couldn’t see any team’s true pace. Arguably, this was demonstrated by freak results like Lance Stroll and Nico Hulkenberg grabbing sixth and seventh.

So maybe Haas’ problems aren’t as bad as they seemed, though they’ll have to get their house in order quickly, the high-speed Saudi Grand Prix is two races away.

In China, Haas dialed their car into the track much more successfully. Having out-qualified some of Australia’s point scorers, Ocon sailed to a stunning fifth in the race. Bearman also pulled off a series of daring overtakes to grab eighth, cheekily saying ‘ciao’ to competitors as he passed.

The 19-year-old’s radio antics aside, it was clear that Haas had found some serious pace in just a few days, with Ocon set to finish in the points even without Ferrari’s indiscretions. After the race, the Frenchman revealed that a setup change fundamentally altered the course of their weekend and suggested there was more to come from the current package.

Ocon explained: “I think we always knew there was going to be some more potential in the car. But of course, it's a surprise to see how much this weekend.

“We really changed 90% of the car from Friday to how it was on Saturday. And really, in qualifying, the car came alive. Suddenly I just felt more confident. I felt that I could attack much more. The car doesn't feel 100% yet, which is a very good thing. It means that we can continue improving,” he added.

With the grid closing up towards the end of the current regulation cycle, setup will once again be key to determining who picks up the big prizes at this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix.