‘We never expected it’ – Komatsu says securing P6 in his first season as Haas boss would ‘mean everything’

“[At] Silverstone, the upgrade was significant and then what we put [on the car] in Austin was an evolution of that, so that really is pleasing to see, how the whole team is working now.”

Pushed on how much it would mean to secure sixth place in his first campaign as Team Principal, Komatsu said: “I think it means everything. At the start of the season, our target was P8 in the championship – we never expected us to be able to fight for P6.

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“But with all the upgrades we brought to the car – and then our drivers’ performance – we are fighting for P6 which is a great place to be, and everybody is looking forward to every single race which was not the case last year, so we are all going all in to try to get P6 in the championship.”

Since stepping into his new position, Komatsu has made some changes within the team in order to encourage everybody to work together – changes he talked through at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez…