Laura Muller: Haas appoints German as first female race engineer in Formula 1
Komatsu, who became team principal ahead of the 2024 season, said he had wanted to overhaul the race operations team since the beginning of last year after seeing weaknesses.
Haas’s changes included the appointment of a new chief race engineer and sporting director, both of which were common positions the low-budget team had not filled the previous season.
The new chief race engineer is Francesco Nancy, who most recently worked on Audi’s Dakar Rally programme, and has F1 experience with Sauber and Toyota. Mark Lowe, previously Haas’ operations team manager, will be sporting director.
Komatsu said, “I thought the trackside team was one of the weakest areas last year, and that became more exposed the more the car became competitive.”
“At the end of the year we had the fifth-fastest car. But in terms of execution, we should have finished P6 (in the Constructors’ Championship), but we didn’t.
“Part of it was that we left a lot of points on the table from trackside operations. So there really needed to be a step up.”
Kridelich follows other female strategy leaders, including Hannah Schmitz, Red Bull’s chief strategy engineer. Ruth Buscombe and Bernie Collins, who previously worked at Sauber and Aston Martin, have both since gone on to broadcasting careers.
Haas has a unique structure in that their domestic operations are minimized as much as possible through their partnership with Ferrari.
Haas uses Ferrari’s wind tunnel, his design team is in Maranello in Italy and he buys from Ferrari almost all parts permitted in the regulations for his car, designing only the aerodynamic surfaces and the chassis.
Their headquarters are in Kannapolis, North Carolina, but the race team operates out of a modest factory in Banbury, Oxfordshire.
Komatsu said that this would be the first year that Haas would have enough of a budget to reach F1’s budget limit. Another change in approach is that they will not be using Ferrari’s latest redesigned front suspension, preferring to stick with last year’s design for the sake of sustainability of the aerodynamic research.
Haas finished seventh overall last year ahead of Racing Bulls, Williams and Sauber and Komatsu said their focus is “on continuity”.
“In the history of Haas over the last several years, I don’t think we’ve been competitive in the same way all season,” he said.
He said he had ambitions to build a team that was “banging above its weight” despite its limited resources.
“Who else only has 300 people or works out of a building like that?” Komatsu said.
“If Williams plays up to his potential, there’s no way we can beat him. I want to get to a place where we can beat guys like that on merit, without having to upset people.”
