(Motorsport-Total.com) – “We know there is a problem with the car,” said Haas driver Esteban Ocon during the Spielberg weekend of Formula 1. At the Austrian Grand Prix, the US racing team remained without World Championship points for the second time in a row after the Grand Prix in Barcelona.
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Above all, Ocon personally is struggling in 2026. In the World Championship, he is clearly behind in the internal duel against his teammate Oliver Bearman with 3:18 points. Team principal Ayao Komatsu has also provided more detailed insights into the team’s problems during the Austrian GP.
“If we knew all the causes, I would be very, very happy,” says the Japanese and explains that currently it is only partly clear why they have such difficulties with the VF-26. It is now known, however, that it concerns parts of the car that do not work as hoped.
Komatsu explains in this context that one must first consider “how much downforce we have lost this year compared to last year.” As a result, the cars of the new Formula 1 generation already have much less grip from the outset.
According to Komatsu, this means that every problem weighs even more heavily. He explains: “Let’s assume there is a problem with a component that does not deliver 100 percent of its performance. Let’s assume five points of downforce are missing.”
“Although these five points are the same last year and this year, the percentage share is significantly higher this year,” says the Japanese, adding: “If a component does not work 100 percent, it is amazing how much the drivers feel it.”
“And then there are various things that we as an organization simply have to improve to really get the best out of what we have – which has not been the case so far,” explains the team principal self-critically.
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But why do certain parts of the car not work as expected? “We had several problems, and all were a little different,” explains Komatsu and emphasizes: “Sometimes it takes us quite a long time to find out exactly what happened.”
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Because different areas are always affected, this makes troubleshooting difficult. In addition, the team principal emphasizes that not only Ocon’s car is affected. Teammate Bearman has also already had problems in this regard.
“Part of it is due to the original manufacturing [of the parts],” explains Komatsu and adds that these errors “should already be detected before the vehicle is assembled.” However, there are also “inaccuracies in the assembly of the vehicle.”
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They have also observed problems with parts that originally worked as planned, “but if you then rebuild something the next weekend, for example, it no longer behaves the same,” reports the team principal.
He therefore holds his racing team accountable and emphasizes: “In Formula 1, it’s about details. To get everything out, everything has to be precise, and I just have the feeling that we lack this precision in the team – which we have at least recognized.”
“But there are some processes that we really need to improve quickly to get this under control,” he knows. Otherwise, Haas could soon lose contact with the top of the midfield in the World Championship.
After the second race of the season in China, they were still in fourth place in the World Championship, even ahead of Red Bull, but have now slipped to seventh place. The Racing Bulls are already 23 points ahead, Alpine in P5 is even 36 points away.
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