Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu says convincing Nico Hulkenberg to buy into a different approach to winter testing is behind their much-improved results in the 2024 Formula 1 season.
The American squad, which came last in 2023, is currently engaged in a close fight with RB for sixth place in the constructors’ championship, as three points separate them with the final six races of the campaign looming.
Hulkenberg has scored 54.2% of Haas’s 31 points so far – compared to 66.7% of its nine in 2023 – with the team’s impressive improvement in form long credited to is design alterations in the VF-24 compared to the VF-23 than meaning its drivers can now keep their tyres alive and push on harder in races.
But while the current Haas car is a much better machine, Komatsu has now revealed how he sees the team’s gains as much down to improvements on the driver side as well.
In an exclusive interview with Motorsport.com, Komatsu explains that he feels Hulkenberg has been “better” overall compared to the driver who restarted his career with Haas last year, but “not better in terms of giving us reference in qualifying, in terms of tyre management, race management”.
In 2023, Hulkenberg was a regular qualifying star for Haas but could not score regular points due to the team’s struggles with in-race tyre wear.
Hulkenberg has already matched his 2023 Q3 appearances total (eight) with a quarter of the season remaining, but his team boss is adamant he has been “so much better” at in-race tyre management too due to a key decision taken at the start of the year.
“It doesn’t just come from him,” Komatsu added. “Just the whole team, the way that we work together from pre-season testing, involving drivers in the centre to understand how he needs to manage tyres.
Nico Hulkenberg, Haas F1 Team, with his engineers
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
“Yes, the car is better, so it’s easier to manage. But from his side as well, I think his understanding is much better.
“And then because we’ve been focused on it from day one, I think he knows he feels how much time on tyre management will make a difference.
“So, he’s much more open to, let’s say, input as well. So, on that side, the long-run sustained running, I think he’s better. Qualifying, I think same, but ‘same’ as in ‘very good’.”
Komatsu is referring to how Haas completed 15 long-run stints across the opening two days of Bahrain…
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