Ayao Komatsu
ON THE RECORD · 25 verbatim quotes · every quote source-verified
“We had the capability, therefore we could assess it by ourselves. But without doing that one, I cannot be nowhere near as confident, right?”
Ayao Komatsu · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-16
Komatsu said having TPC capability allowed Haas to assess drivers itself and gave him confidence in the decision.
“Our door's open, definitely. We've been talking with him and then his manager as well to see if we can do something together beyond this year.”
Ayao Komatsu · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-16
Asked about reserve driver Jack Doohan continuing with Haas into 2027, Komatsu said the door is open and discussions are ongoing.
“All you guys were questioning when I took Ollie for a '25 seat, 'Ollie's not performing in F2 [he finished 12th in 2024]. Are you sure that's the right choice?' I had a question from many of you, but I was confident because we had access to Ollie through FP1s. I knew what he was capable of.”
Ayao Komatsu · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-16
Komatsu recalled media questioning his decision to sign Ollie Bearman for 2025 despite Bearman's F2 results, saying he was confident due to FP1 access.
“The good thing of all those driver selection processes was all drivers who were involved in that did a very, very good job. Rafa, Leo Fornaroli, Ryo Hirakawa, Jack Doohan. I believe they all got the best out of themselves and every time they got in the car, they improved.”
Ayao Komatsu · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-16
Komatsu praised all drivers involved in the selection process, including Camara, Fornaroli, Hirakawa, and Doohan.
“But in terms of how we were impressed with Rafa, it's really that judging those conditions, because you got to have a very, very good feel for the car about the grip, to be able to judge those ever-so-changing conditions.”
Ayao Komatsu · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-16
Komatsu said what impressed him about Camara was his ability to judge changing track conditions.
“So I went to see him in person, in Tokyo, before we signed anything, before he made any comment, because I didn't want any misunderstanding. I didn't want him to, let's say, invest in the team with a misunderstanding of, 'OK, if we work together, we can get one of my drivers to the race seat'.”
Ayao Komatsu · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-16
Komatsu said he met Akio Toyoda in person in Tokyo before signing anything to avoid misunderstandings about driver selection.
“I'd like to continue with Ollie, he's an incredible talent and he showed amazing growth,”
Ayao Komatsu · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-16
Komatsu expressed his desire to continue with Bearman, calling him an incredible talent.
“Other than the speed, it's like 'wow' - it's just potential how we can grow together, how we can nurture this talent, how we can flourish, is a potential. So that is the common, exciting factor.”
Ayao Komatsu · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-16
Komatsu said the common exciting factor between Bearman and Camara is the potential to grow and nurture talent together.
“He focused on what he needed to do to be himself, to get his best performance, to then understand what the mechanism for him to do that and then execute was very impressive.”
Ayao Komatsu · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-16
Komatsu highlighted Camara's ability to understand and execute the mechanism for his best performance.
“Then last year was about getting off the ground, operating professionally, creating a good culture, a good team.”
Ayao Komatsu · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-16
Komatsu described the first year of Haas's TPC programme as being about establishing operations and culture.
“That's a very different scenario to what Rafa had in Portimao, which was a clear, clear shootout, right? The first time he's jumping in our car. So speed, honestly, excitement about the speed, I would say similar.”
Ayao Komatsu · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-16
Komatsu said Camara's Portimao test was a clear shootout and that the excitement about his speed was similar to Bearman's.
“This is part of the reason why we wanted to have a capability to do a TPC [programme],”
Ayao Komatsu · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-16
Komatsu explained why Haas wanted the capability to run a TPC programme.
“But in the details, I think it's different because what impressed me most with Ollie was how he understood the overall situation, how he understood his role, how he executed in FP1 in Mexico [2023], first time in F1 car.”
Ayao Komatsu · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-16
Komatsu contrasted what impressed him about Bearman in his first F1 outing with Camara's shootout scenario.
“So that's still an open question.”
Ayao Komatsu · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-16
Komatsu said whether Jack Doohan continues with Haas beyond 2026 remains an open question.
“The condition was changing every minute, every lap, right? No two laps are the same. So that was impressive. But also knowing it's a shootout, how he, let's say, created his environment so that he could focus on what he needs to do and how he wasn't fixated on the outcome.”
Ayao Komatsu · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-16
Komatsu praised Camara's focus on his own performance rather than the outcome during the shootout.
“Then this year, he's shown that he's ready to be a team leader. Also, how he raced in Singapore [he charged from 13th to sixth in the sprint], which was very, very impressive.”
Ayao Komatsu · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-16
Komatsu said Bearman has shown he is ready to be a team leader and praised his Singapore sprint race performance.
“Then this year we knew that we have to be able to evaluate drivers. We can anticipate that because of the contractual situation of our drivers [Ocon and Ollie Bearman's contracts expire at the end of 2026].”
Ayao Komatsu · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-16
Komatsu said Haas knew it needed to evaluate drivers given the contractual situations of Esteban Ocon and Ollie Bearman.
“He was the quickest. That was a very simple answer. Definitely, yeah. He was impressive.”
Ayao Komatsu · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-16
Komatsu was asked if the logic for signing Rafael Camara went beyond him being the fastest driver in the Portimao test day.
“Then I don't know if I made the same decision, seriously. I don't, probably not. I don't know because Formula 2 from outside is very, very difficult to understand.”
Ayao Komatsu · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-16
Komatsu said he likely would not have made the same decision without the TPC test, noting F2 is difficult to understand from outside.
“Yeah, in terms of potential we see, I would say equally exciting. Very, very similar.”
Ayao Komatsu · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-16
Asked about parallels between Bearman and Camara, Komatsu said their potential is equally exciting.
“It's just a matter of timing [and] finalising certain details. But yes, it is our intention to continue with Ollie, but then a formal announcement will come in due course.”
Ayao Komatsu · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-16
Komatsu said it is Haas's intention to continue with Bearman and that a formal announcement will come in due course.
“From the very moment we started talking with Toyota in 2024, I knew that Akio-san [Akio Toyoda, Toyota chairman] was very keen to get one of his drivers to the race seat next year, 2027,”
Ayao Komatsu · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-16
Komatsu said Akio Toyoda was keen to get a Toyota driver into a race seat for 2027 from the start of their collaboration.
“We knew what he was capable of and what kind of personality he is etc. So without doing this TPC, if we decided to take Rafa without doing it, it certainly feels much more like a gamble.”
Ayao Komatsu · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-16
Komatsu said signing Rafael Camara without the TPC programme would have felt like a gamble.
“Then do I want to gamble like that? Probably not, but it's a hypothetical situation. This is why we put the environment in place so that we can take it under our control.”
Ayao Komatsu · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-16
Komatsu said Haas put the TPC environment in place to take driver evaluation under its control.
“So that was honestly a very, very uplifting process to be involved with.”
Ayao Komatsu · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-16
Komatsu called the driver selection process a very uplifting one to be involved with.