Haas denies testing tactics to blame for nightmare F1 Friday

Haas had arrived at Formula 1’s Australian Grand Prix off the back of a long-run focused pre-season test that left question marks over its ultimate form.

But, despite Ollie Bearman also bemoaning his lack of low-fuel efforts at the time, team boss Ayao Komatsu pushed back on any suggestion that he or his drivers needed any extra knowledge about the potential of the VF-25 before the start of the campaign.

“Even if I know we are P5 or P8, what am I going to do for Australia?” he said in Bahrain. “There’s nothing going to change. If we had some new parts planned to come for Australia, we’re going to bring them anyway.”

And on Bearman expressing his disappointment at not getting any low fuel runs in, Komatsu added: “We saw him in qualifying last year, and I don't think he did badly. Baku, he outqualified Nico [Hulkenberg]. Interlagos sprint weekend, P1 then qualifying, he outqualified Nico as well…”

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But Komatsu’s confidence about the team’s unique approach to testing appeared to have come back to bite him at Albert Park, as Haas endured a day that fell far below expectations and his two cars ended up bottom of the timesheets in both practice sessions.

On Bearman’s first soft tyre run in FP1, he ran wide at the exit of the fast Turn 9/10 combination and, after skipping across the gravel trap, was left a passenger as his car spun into the barriers, bringing out the red flag.