– The current business model and structure of the Haas team prevent, according to former Ferrari race engineer Rob Smedley, the US racing team from ever competing for the world championship title or wins. Despite great respect for the leadership style of team principal Ayao Komatsu, Smedley sees the team’s glass ceiling rooted in its fundamental setup.
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“With their current structure, they will never have the chance to compete at the top,” Smedley delivers a ruthless verdict on the team’s prospects in an episode of the podcast High Performance Racing.
The American team joined Formula 1 in 2016, relying heavily on a technical partnership with Ferrari. This approach allowed Haas a significantly more cost-effective entry into the premier class but regularly led to performance drops during the season over the years, as the team often could not keep up in the development race with the competition.
TV presenter Jake Humphrey, who co-hosts the podcast with Smedley and former Force India and Alpine team principal Otmar Szafnauer, expressed similar frustration at the stagnation of the racing team: “Haas is the most frustrating team on the Formula 1 grid for me. In the sense that they apparently always start with a fast car but then do not develop it further. Maybe they lack the resources or the capabilities for that.”
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This is especially evident in the current season, in which Haas had a very strong start. Oliver Bearman was fifth in the drivers’ standings with 17 points after two races, but only one point was added in the following nine races. Teammate Esteban Ocon also only finished in the top 10 twice during the same period.
Nevertheless, the racing team’s leadership enjoys a good professional reputation. Komatsu took over as team principal in January 2024 from Günther Steiner. “I absolutely admire the leadership style and approach of Ayao Komatsu,” Humphrey adds.
“I consider Ollie Bearman an exceptional driver and would simply like to see the two further up the field. Not necessarily the Haas team itself, but the people at Haas. I would like to see Komatsu at the head of a team further up and Ollie Bearman in a car competing further forward.”
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