(Motorsport-Total.com) – Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu is extremely surprised by Audi’s new power unit, which according to him is “very, very good”. He cannot understand statements suggesting that Ferrari has the significantly better drive.
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Formula 1 2026 is in a way also a competition between engine manufacturers. While performance has been basically almost the same in recent years, the new regulations result in major differences: Mercedes is currently considered the industry leader, while Aston Martin currently has no chance at all due to Honda.
Many, on the other hand, were surprised that Red Bull Powertrains started the season so well, even though Red Bull had never built its own engine before. And Audi also started the new Formula 1 era without prior knowledge, but seems to be able to keep up completely.
Asked about the fact that the Ferrari engine in the back of the Haas is a plus for the Americans in the fight against Audi, Komatsu pushes back: “I don’t know how you can claim that,” he says. “I don’t know what you’re basing it on when you say that. Have you looked at the GPS data? No, I don’t think you can say that.”
Komatsu “shocked”
Of course, at the moment you can only look at results and speed curves and don’t know exactly how much comes from the internal combustion engine and how much from the electric part, “but if we look at what Audi can do on the straights: they are very, very good. Really good,” praises Komatsu. “That’s why I’m honestly shocked that you say we are clearly better than Audi.”
At the same time, he emphasizes that he does not want to take anything away from his own engine supplier Ferrari. Currently, Haas is racing against completely different drives: Racing Bulls with Red Bull Ford, Alpine with Mercedes or indeed Audi.
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“When we race against these guys, we see very clear differences in deployment capabilities and strategy. That we had to learn very, very quickly,” he says. “And for the life of me, I cannot conclude that we are ahead in top speed on the straights. On the contrary, it was extremely difficult. As you could see, overtaking was a real challenge.”
Hülkenberg: Audi is in the mix in the midfield
For Audi, the first race in Australia was quite a success, as they were able to move into Q3 and also score the first two points with ninth place. “Definitely – starting the season directly with points is positive,” also praises Nico Hülkenberg, who himself did not get the chance to start in Melbourne.
“Of course, a few top cars also dropped out, but we also retired with one car ourselves,” he says.
The German believes that Australia certainly provided a realistic picture of the balance of power, even if it could vary a little from track to track. That means for Audi: “We are right in the middle of the midfield battle.”
“We certainly need a few more weekends and different tracks to solidify and verify that, but I think we’re in it. It feels decent. And we’re building on that now,” says Hülkenberg.
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