S2 Ep7: F1 Life Stories: Ayao Komatsu

As we have some time between the Miami GP and Canadian GP, we are filling the gap with an exclusive interview with Haas F1 Team Principal, Ayao Komatsu.

We were honoured to be joined by Ayao to chat about his life in F1, how the Haas 2026 season is shaping up and so much more, including:

• How to say Ayao Komatsu properly!
• Haas F1 performance so far this season
• Preparation for the 2026 Formula 1 season?
• The most important things to running a successful F1 team?
• Are the tweaks to the new rules working for you or against you?
• How are you finding the Ferrari power unit?
• Does it still feel like we are in the development stages of the Championship?
• Ollie Bearman and Esteban Ocon getting to grips with the new car?
• Do younger F1 drivers have an advantage because they never drove the older cars?
• What’s your personal relationship with your drivers?
• Do you have a WhatsApp group for the three of you?!
• How did it feel coming from the engineering side to taking over from Gunther Steiner as the boss?
• Where did your own F1 journey start?
• How did you get to F1 from university?
• Working with Takuma Sato at BAR Honda
• Your relationship with Roman Grosjean
• The 2020 crash at the Bahrain GP
• How did Roman Grosjean get out of that burning car?
• Haas plans for the Montreal GP & Monaco GP
• Will the new regulations make a difference in Monaco?
• How Ayao and Ben met

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