Laura Muller: Haas has hired a German woman as F1’s first female race engineer

Komatsu, who took over as team principal ahead of the 2024 season, said he had wanted to change the racing team since the start of last year after failings were identified.

Haas’ changes include the appointment of a new chief race engineer and sporting director, both general positions the low-budget team did not hold last season.

The new chief race engineer is Francesco Nenchi, who most recently worked for Audi’s Dakar Rally program and has F1 experience with Sauber and Toyota. Mark Lowe, previously head of operations at Haas, will become sporting director.

“I felt the track team was one of the weakest areas last year, and the more competitive the car became, the more it showed,” Komatsu said.

“Towards the end of the year, we had the fifth fastest car. But in terms of execution, we should have finished 6th (in the Constructors’ Championship), but we didn’t.

“Part of that was due to the fact that we left too many points on the board because of the surgery on the track. So it really needs a step up.”

Kriedelich, from France, follows other female strategy leaders, including Hannah Schmitz, Red Bull’s chief strategy engineer. Ruth Bascombe and Bernie Collins, formerly of Sauber and Aston Martin, have both since moved on to broadcasting careers.

Haas has a unique structure in that their internal operations are as streamlined as possible thanks to their partnership with Ferrari.

Haas uses a Ferrari wind tunnel, has its design team in Maranello, Italy, and buys virtually every rule-permitted part from Ferrari for their car, designing only the aerodynamic surfaces and chassis.

Their headquarters are in Kannapolis, North Carolina, but the racing team operates from a modest factory in Bunbury, Oxfordshire.

Komatsu said this will be the first year Haas will have enough budget to meet the F1 budget cap. Another change in approach is that they won’t be using Ferrari’s latest redesigned front suspension, preferring to stick with last year’s design for a sequence of aerodynamic studies.

Haas finished seventh overall last year, ahead of Racing Bulls, Williams and Sauber, and Komatsu said he was “aiming for consistency”.

“In the history of Haas over the years, I don’t think we’ve been competitive for seasons in a similar way,” he said.

He added that he had ambitions to further improve a squad which he said was “punching above its weight” due to limited resources.

“Who (else) only has 300 people or works in a building like this?” said Komatsu.

“If Williams had reached their potential, there was no way we could have beaten them. I want to get to a place where we can beat people like that on merit and people don’t screw up.”