The 2026 Belgian Grand Prix saw Haas record its fourth consecutive race without scoring a single Formula 1 point, following a start to the season that had shown some promise. However, it has been clear for several races now that the American team has been outdeveloped by most of its rivals, starting with Racing Bulls and Audi, which are now battling it out with Alpine for points.
As such, hopes of a strong showing were not particularly high ahead of the Spa race, especially for Esteban Ocon, who has been plagued by performance issues with his VF-26. But, the fact that the two drivers made contact on the first lap – which resulted in the Frenchman running off the track and both suffering punctures – did not help matters.
Historically, incidents involving Haas drivers are nothing new, but for team boss Ayao Komatsu, it is essential to draw a clear line in the sand straight away – despite the particular circumstances of last week’s incident.
"We just have to make sure it doesn't happen again", he told the media, including Motorsport.com, on Thursday in Budapest. "As always, even on a Sunday after the race, I just wanted to hear points of view from both sides, and then I put my points of view, and then we spoke about it, and then days after as well, so it's all fine."
When asked for his own view, the ***** anese team principal sidestepped the question: "I don't think I need to share that here. My interest is of course, whatever the reason, it just cannot happen again. Full stop. So, we just got to have a clear rule of engagement."
#view
As such, hopes of a strong showing were not particularly high ahead of the Spa race, especially for Esteban Ocon, who has been plagued by performance issues with his VF-26. But, the fact that the two drivers made contact on the first lap – which resulted in the Frenchman running off the track and both suffering punctures – did not help matters.
Historically, incidents involving Haas drivers are nothing new, but for team boss Ayao Komatsu, it is essential to draw a clear line in the sand straight away – despite the particular circumstances of last week’s incident.
"We just have to make sure it doesn't happen again", he told the media, including Motorsport.com, on Thursday in Budapest. "As always, even on a Sunday after the race, I just wanted to hear points of view from both sides, and then I put my points of view, and then we spoke about it, and then days after as well, so it's all fine."
When asked for his own view, the ***** anese team principal sidestepped the question: "I don't think I need to share that here. My interest is of course, whatever the reason, it just cannot happen again. Full stop. So, we just got to have a clear rule of engagement."
#view
6 days ago
