After a difficult 2025 F1 Japanese GP, Haas Team Principal Ayao Komatsu was happy to leave Suzuka with one point, earned by rookie Oliver “Ollie” Bearman. Despite a stunning weekend in Shanghai, Haas seemed wrong-footed in Japan, with both Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman struggling from FP1 onward. The team’s misfortune continued into Saturday’s Qualifying, with Ocon falling at the first hurdle. He qualified P18. Bearman, on the other hand, offered the American team some redemption, qualifying P10 after an exceptional showing.
Though Ocon managed to get past Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto at the start, he found himself unable to make his way up the field, and had to settle for a P18 finish. Bearman too, finished where he started. However, the British rookie enjoyed a better race than his teammate, even challenging Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton into Turn 1. Unfortunately with limited opportunities for overtaking, Bearman ultimately lost out to Williams’ Alex Albon. He crossed the line P10 to claimed Haas’ only point of the weekend.
Komatsu expected “a huge challenge” going into the F1 Japanese GP weekend
Though not as glamourous as Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen’s win, Bearman’s P10 finish was an important and reassuring accomplishment for Haas after an otherwise difficult weekend. While speaking to the media after the F1 Japanese GP race on Sunday, Komatsu stated that he was happy to take points from the weekend, especially as the team had expected “a huge challenge”.
“Of course I’m happy, yeah. Because at the start of this weekend we expected a huge challenge.”
Bearman’s P10 finish “a good reward” for hard-working team
He explained that the team had not been optimistic about their chances of getting out of Q1, after seeing their performance in Friday’s Free Practice Sessions. Despite this, Komatsu said, the team had continued to work on the car, fine-tuning it ahead of Qualifying. This work, and Bearman’s exception performance, eventually earned the team “a really good reward”.
“And if you look at Friday, we just worked, you know, in terms of sorting out the Melbourne issue, get the car in the right window, etc. But if you look at our competitiveness on Friday, we didn’t look like we were getting out of Q1.”
“So Friday night I was focusing [on] how can we get a bit more performance out of the car, [or] driver, to get out of Q1. Then we tweaked a few things overnight, and then FP3 to qualifying, and then, yeah, to get to Q3 was amazing. And then today, for everyone to execute the race in that way and Ollie to drive in that way, to get P10 was a really good reward.”
Komatsu acknowledged that the team had put in a lot of work to earn only one point, and stated that the outcome of the weekend had pleased him.
“It’s just lots of work just to get one point back in a competition stage. I’m very pleased that we managed to get something out of this weekend.”
Bearman able to understand and excute what Haas requires from him
When asked whether it was impressive that 19-year-old Bearman could give the kind of feedback required to help the Haas improve the performance of their VF-25, Komatsu replied, “Yeah, but we knew that form last year.”
The Haas Team Principal explained that Bearman’s ability to understand what was expected of him, excute the necessary performance required, and give appropriate feedback has played a significant role in the team’s decision to add him to their 2025 F1 line-up.
“This is a big part of the reason why we signed Ollie. We started working with him in Mexico in 2023 when he was 18. It was impressive straight away in that regard. And then last year, every time we worked with him, his feedback was accurate, he understood the programme, he understood the objectives.”
“So it’s not just about driving fast. Of course he can drive fast, but he really is able to, let’s say, digest or understand what’s required of him and then execute the programme.”
Komatsu stated that Bearman’s miserable weekend in Melbourne had been an “uncharacteristic event” but insisted that he had not been concerned as he had been confident that the British driver would bounce back, as he did in Shanghai.
“So obviously Melbourne was a complete uncharacteristic event, but then again, the way I knew he can bounce back, because he’s done that before. And then the way he bounced back in Shanghai was amazing. He pretty much carried on here.”
“So now it’s great, but we’re not surprised,” Komatsu said, “I’m not surprised because we knew how much potential he had.”
Both Haas drivers ran same specifications at Suzuka
Despite the discrepancies in their driver’s performance, with the more-experience Ocon finishing so far back just two weeks after an excellent race in Shanghai, Komatsu insisted that both drivers had had the same specifications, as the team had found their new upgrade to be working as desired.
“No, no, but we equalised the car on the Friday night. I don’t know if you were here, but in FP2, so we pushed the car in FP1, but we didn’t see the clear difference, but we pushed it further in FP2, and then we saw it straight away.”
“So, we had to, let’s say, go one step back on Esteban’s car on Friday FP2. So that proved that new floor was having a positive impact, making a difference. On Friday night, we put Esteban on a brand-new floor with the upgrade. So they had the same spec.”
Komatsu unsure why Ocon failed to perform at F1 Japanese GP
Komatsu further insisted that the team’s data had shown both cars to be performance close to each other, and while he acknowledged that there could be other factors, which the team could not measure, at play. However, the Haas Team Principal stated that the team had not yet discovered such factors.
“No, no, no, the data is pretty clear. It’s working. So we haven’t understood why Esteban couldn’t perform. Both cars, as far as we can see, are performing very close to each other, within the resolution, what we can measure.”
“Not to say there might be something that we cannot measure, but so far we haven’t found anything.”
However, Komatsu does not believe that unfamiliarity with the installed upgrades had caused Ocon’s struggles in the F1 Japanese GP race.
“No, no, no, I don’t think so. No, no, no, no, because you can get to that, let’s say, air oscillation with different car setup. It’s not about getting used to it.”
Co-Author: Karishma Persad
