Ayao Komatsu: aiming high with Haas
F1 Beyond The Grid
karenellenbevan
4.7 • 5.3K Ratings
🗓️ 25 March 2026
⏱️ 61 minutes
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Summary
Ayao also reveals a lot about his relationship with owner Gene Haas and what Toyota bring to the table as the team’s technical partner.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Your life's already digital. From banking and shopping to streaming and learning. So why |
| 0:06.3 | does sorting government stuff still feel like such hard work? The government is introducing a new |
| 0:13.6 | digital ID to make access to services quicker and more secure for everyone. But we need to hear from you. |
| 0:23.6 | Your voice matters. Search digital ID consultation to have your say. Digital ID, making it work for you. HASS have started the new era of Formula One in style. |
| 0:38.3 | So is it too early to talk about loftier ambitions? |
| 0:42.3 | For me to sit here and talk about wins, it's too far away. |
| 0:46.3 | So our medium-term target in the next three to five years |
| 0:50.3 | is basically trying to establish ourselves consistently at the front of the midfield |
| 0:55.4 | pack. Only when you get there, then we can look at, okay, what are we still lacking to |
| 1:00.9 | challenge for podiums on the merit, to challenge for the race wins on the merit? |
| 1:04.9 | And if Olli Behrman continues to impress, Canhast keep hold of him? |
| 1:10.2 | If we've done great job with Odie and then Odie |
| 1:14.0 | performed so well that Ferrari really wants to take him the following year, we have to be happy |
| 1:18.9 | that we've done our job. Hello and welcome to F1 Beyond the Grid. |
| 1:29.6 | I'm Tom Clarkson and my guest this week is HAST team principal Iocomatsu. |
| 1:35.5 | Iyo's only been in charge of the team since 2024. |
| 1:39.3 | But what I think comes across in our chat is how much of a natural leader he is. |
| 1:46.5 | He empowers people, he listens to them, and he makes the right calls when necessary. Just look at how the team recovered from a |
| 1:51.9 | very difficult start to last season. We talk a lot about drivers. What does I.O. expect from |
| 1:57.8 | Esteban Okon this season? How much potential does Oli Behrman have? |
| 2:03.4 | I also ask Iyo about his relationship with team owner Gene Hasse, in whom he saw a different |
| 2:08.8 | side at last year's Goodwood Festival of Speed, where both of them drove a Hass F1 car up the |
... |
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