The High Performance Podcast Haas F1 Boss: How the Smallest Team in F1 Plans to Shock in 2026 (E387)
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Jan 19, 2026 Ayao Komatsu, the Team Principal of Haas F1 Team, shares his journey of rebuilding a team culture amid challenges. He reflects on the profound lessons learned from Romain Grosjean’s alarming crash, emphasizing the importance of trust and transparency in leadership. Ayao discusses how the team transformed from being the slowest on the grid to achieving significant gains mid-season through aligning goals and fostering open communication. He also highlights the balance between driver development and team unity, offering practical wisdom on resilience and growth.
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Find Problems, Not Blame
- A sudden performance gap revealed a fundamental car weakness at Melbourne, not driver error.
- Ayao Komatsu treated the discovery as an engineering problem requiring rapid, collective focus rather than blame.
Decide Fast And Iterate Boldly
- When disaster strikes, focus on a clear direction and rapid iteration instead of arguing.
- Make bold setup changes, test extremes, and decide transparently to see if the issue is solvable quickly.
Culture Is The Shock Absorber
- Recovery depended on the team's culture of trust, transparency and no blame.
- Ayao credits months of prior cultural work for enabling the team to solve a season-threatening problem together.