Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu is not in favor of the proposed rule by competitors that teams should manufacture more components themselves. The rule is reportedly being pushed by Aston Martin and Alpine, among others, for the 2026 regulations. However, Komatsu believes that this proposed rule could be the death knell for his smaller team.
In 2026, a new set of regulations will come into effect in Formula 1. The cars will be thirty kilograms lighter than the current generation of vehicles, and there will be an equal distribution between electric energy and an internal combustion engine running on fully sustainable biofuels. The German publication Auto, Motor und Sport also reports that some teams, including Aston Martin, Williams, and Alpine, are advocating for teams to manufacture more components themselves.
According to Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu, this would put his team at an unfair disadvantage. “That would be the death knell for the smaller teams,” emphasizes the Japanese, speaking to PlanetF1. “If Formula 1 wants as many teams as possible to be competitive, it will reject this rule.”
Haas is one of the smaller teams on the current Formula 1 grid and currently sits in seventh place in the constructors’ championship. According to Komatsu, there is enough reason for Formula 1 itself to not introduce the component rule. “What is better for the sport than when David beats Goliath? Which fan cares whether the gearbox or the suspension comes from Ferrari or from us?”
No Advantage for Haas
Komatsu also makes it clear that the Haas model, where the team purchases many of their parts from factory team Ferrari instead of designing them themselves, does not provide a competitive advantage under the budget cap. “We receive a nominal equivalent value in the budget cap for the parts we buy. This is so high that we have no advantage,” says the team principal.
