Photo: RacePictures.

Ayao Komatsu finds Ferrari engine jackpot for 2026

13:30, 03 Feb

byLani Price

Haas Team Principal Ayao Komatsu believes he has struck gold with the 2026 Ferrari engine.

After putting in the second most laps of any team during the Barcelona Shakedown, Komatsu was impressed by the reliability and power displayed by the new power-unit.

Over the five days in Barcelona, Haas drivers Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman put in an impressive 457 laps, with Komatsu having this to say on their new engine: “Ferrari have done an absolutely amazing job to get the performance up there and to have the reliability they’ve delivered.”

Komatsu was pleased with the longevity that the new engine was able to give the VF-26 during its initial testing stage, with Ocon behind the wheel reportedly completing the most laps on day one of any team.

“To be able to bump 150 laps on day one, I think that’s a record for us on the very first day of testing,” Komatsu explained.

“To get going was a bit slow because of the telemetry issues and the ECU issues - all those niggly electrical problems you’re going to have with a brand-new car.

”We decided, okay, if your runner has done this many laps in one run, let’s just extend it and do a 15-lap run. To have the confidence to do that straight away was actually very good, and that helped us rack up the mileage.”

Photo: Haas F1 Media

After suffering four DNF’s and finishing eighth in the Constructor’s Championship last season, Haas will be looking at every aspect of their car in order to minimise the risk of DNF’s, and maximise their prospects of success - something a reliable power unit will offer.

He added: "Throughout the days of testing, we haven’t seen any severe PU issues at all.”

“There are new cars all over the place causing red flags everywhere, but in this case, I don’t think we ever stopped on track because of PU issues.”

With last season’s PU issues for Haas seemingly stemming from aerodynamic and chassis issues affecting the way the VF-25 handled power, Komatsu says having a stable engine is “really good, because if you’re not able to run, you cannot improve your performance".

“You cannot understand this energy deployment thing we’ve been talking about, so having such a reliable Power Unit helps us make progress. That’s very encouraging,” he said .