Ahead of the United States GP, Haas has been making headlines after signing a landmark technical partnership deal with Japanese automaker Toyota. On October 13, Team Principal Ayao Komatsu spoke about bringing upgrades for the American team ahead of their outing in Austin.
But that’s not all. Haas has even more in store at the Circuit of the Americas, as Komatsu hinted at a “few other surprises” that the team will bring with them.
“After all, it wouldn’t be a US race without a new look, would it?” Komatsu said, as quoted on Haas’ X (formerly Twitter).
“We’ll be bringing another update in Austin, along with a few other surprises. After all, it wouldn’t be a US race without a new look, would it?”
️ Ayao Komatsu#HaasF1 #F1 #USGP pic.twitter.com/DfVrCTfeLM
— MoneyGram Haas F1 Team (@HaasF1Team) October 13, 2024
Most F1 teams tend to keep the details of their upgrades under wraps to prevent rivals from gaining an edge before a race weekend. However, Komatsu had no such reservations. In fact, he revealed the upgrades back in August, right after the Dutch GP.
“It’s similar to Silverstone,” he had said. “We worked on the floor and bodywork and found performance. Those assumptions of what we expected in the wind tunnel [and] CFD [testing] that materialized at Silverstone… [it will be] continuation of that, and a couple of other areas which we find interesting“.
Haas’ upgrades at Silverstone delivered impressive results, with Nico Hulkenberg finishing in P6, just a week before repeating the performance in Austria. This marked the team’s joint-best result of the 2024 season. Now, Haas will be hoping their US GP upgrades bring similar success, just as they did at Silverstone.
Haas, currently sitting P7 in the Constructors’ Championship, is aiming to finish the season in sixth. To do so, they’ll need to overtake RB, who holds a slim three-point lead over the Kannapolis-based team.
However, regardless of their final position this season, Haas’ future looks promising, especially with their newly signed partnership with Toyota.
How will Haas’ partnership with Toyota help them?
Though it has been less than a year since Ayao Komatsu took over as team principal from Guenther Steiner, he has already transformed Haas significantly. Under his leadership, the American team has made remarkable progress—from finishing at the bottom of the standings last year to now battling for a potential sixth-place finish.
And their latest deal with Toyota can help Haas continue this trajectory. As per the press release, Toyota will provide Haas with the design and technical know-how to become more competitive. Haas hopes that they can use Toyota’s expertise to help them in their aerodynamical improvement and streamline their operations to improve efficiency.
Since this is a long-term deal, it seems unlikely that Haas will see the benefits of this partnership in the next few years. However, this partnership is likely to help set a foundation for future success.
