P1racenews AI automatic summary:
New team principal Komatsu had provided a bleak outlook for the new F1 season before positive steps were made.
Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu admitted that the team’s performance in defying his pre-season pessimism came as a surprise. Taking over from Guenther Steiner, Komatsu led the American-owned team to improve following a lackluster campaign last season. Despite predicting they would remain at the back of the grid early on, Nico Hulkenberg’s Q3 appearance in Bahrain and securing a point in Saudi Arabia proved otherwise. Komatsu acknowledged that the team, being the smallest, had to assume others made similar gains in the off-season. He highlighted the importance of addressing race tyre management issues and cautioned that circuit characteristics could impact the team’s performance compared to last year. Despite these challenges, Komatsu praised the team’s operational excellence and strong performance in Jeddah.
