Haas scoring run a point of pride for Komatsu

Haas is delivering on its potential to “do a lot of damage” after five straight point-scoring race weekends, according to team principal Ayao Komatsu.

Kevin Magnussen finished seventh and Nico Hulkenberg ninth in the Mexico City Grand Prix to move Haas 10 points clear of RB in the constructors’ championship. The result was the fifth race weekend in a row that Haas has scored in -- and sixth event including the Sprint at Circuit of The Americas -- and Komatsu says it’s a special run for the team.

“It’s just incredible,” Komatsu told SiriusXM. “Thanks to all the guys who have built this car -- it’s an amazing team effort. That’s what we’re trying to build up from the beginning of this year. The emphasis is if we work as a team we can do a lot of damage, which is what we’re doing. So I’m so happy and so proud of everyone’s effort.

“It doesn’t matter who you are -- if you are IT or communications, an engineer or mechanic, CFD guys, designers, everybody -- I cannot thank enough in this team, it’s just an amazing team effort and great atmosphere. I’m proud to be part of it.”

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Haas’ record is six straight grands prix with points, set back in 2018, and it can match that tally at this weekend’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix at Interlagos.

“In 2018 we scored many points, but we are just looking at every single event. I said to the whole team, when there were eight races to go with the gap to RB, ‘Every single race weekend has to be like a cup final -- we’ve got to put everything together to beat them.’ And now we are 10 points ahead of them. So we just keep going.

“The next race in Brazil, with a Sprint event, before with our car we completely ignored the Sprint race because there was no way we can get into the top eight. Now we don’t. We scored double points in Austin in the Sprint, so there’s lots more opportunities, but I’m just so happy for everyone. It’s incredible.”

Komatsu promises not to go on the defensive to protect the team’s position in sixth place, as he feels it has the car to continue reducing the gap to Aston Martin in fifth, having closed from 55 points behind to 40 over the past two races.

“I don’t change approach at all. You have to keep looking forward," he said. "For me, my philosophy is you always have to do one step better. Yes, P5 is far-fetched -- they are miles ahead -- but it doesn’t change the fact that every single event you've got to be on it, maximizing everything when the pressure is on. So no, it doesn’t change the approach -- we are going to try and go one step better all the time.

“I always say that this year I find it very difficult to be precise how competitive we are going to be. I think Brazil is a very technical circuit, challenging for the driver, challenging for the car, but Austin we performed, [in Mexico] we performed and they are very, very different tracks. So I am looking forward to going there and doing our best.”