Haas overachieved in comparison with its pre-season targets in 2024 regardless of the late season disappointment of dropping out to Alpine for sixth within the constructors’ championship, in keeping with staff principal Ayao Komatsu.
Alpine’s double-podium lead to Brazil proved essential because it picked up 33 of its 65 factors in a single race at Interlagos, serving to it beat Haas within the standings. With Haas seventh forward of RB, Williams and Stake, Komatsu mentioned the way in which the ultimate outcomes panned out don’t overshadow the progress made throughout his first season in cost.
“In fact we had been very upset to not get P6, however we gave it every thing and it doesn’t simply occur at one occasion, it occurs over the course of the season, over the 24 races clearly,” Komatsu instructed SiriusXM. “So in the long run, contemplating the place we’ve come from, we’ve completed an excellent job to get to P7 with so many factors.
“In the long run we scored 58 factors, and in case you have a look at the final quarter of the season we scored 27, which by no means occurred earlier than. We all the time would rating within the first a number of races or as much as halfway, however hardly rating any factors within the second half of the season as a result of we couldn’t develop the automobile. However we put that proper, we developed the automobile all through the season very, very effectively, and our automobile acquired quicker and quicker and quicker.
“The Abu Dhabi qualifying session was the closest we’ve been to pole place – three tenths – and Nico [Hulkenberg] was solely eight hundredths from P2. So there’s tons to be constructive about, and I’m glad that individuals acknowledge that within the staff and are glad that we overachieved what we got down to do earlier this yr.”
Komatsu mentioned he would undoubtedly have signed up for a seventh-place end within the standings firstly of the season, given what he had set the staff as a purpose for 2024.
“100%, as a result of the official goal for the staff was P8,” he mentioned. “We needed to set a goal, proper? We don’t need to be useless final, and P8 was a practical goal that we set to everybody. I keep in mind in January I mentioned ‘If we obtain P8 on the finish of the season we’ve completed very, very effectively, as a result of who’re we going to beat?’ You have to beat two groups, who else are we going to beat?
“We’re the smallest staff, we began this yr’s automobile late and stopped for a few months to do the Austin improve final yr, so we said from a fairly unfavourable place. How are we going to get to P8? That was the problem we set ourselves, and truthfully I feel the girls and boys did a tremendous job, so I’m more than happy.”
