Laura Müller: Haas hires a German as the first female race engineer in Formula 1

Komatsu, who became team principal ahead of the 2024 season, said he wanted to change the race operations team since early last year after spotting weaknesses.

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

The new chief race engineer is Francesco Nenci, who recently worked on Audi’s Dakar Rally program and has F1 experience with Sauber and Toyota. Mark Lowe, previously head of Haas’ operations team, will be sporting director.

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

“Towards the end of the year we had the fifth fastest car. But in terms of execution, we should have finished sixth (in the constructors’ championship), but we didn’t.

“In part, we left too many points on the table because of the operation at the track. So we really needed a step forward.”

Cridelich, from France, follows other female strategic leaders, including Hannah Schmitz, principal strategic engineer at Red Bull. Ruth Buscombe and Bernie Collins, who previously worked at Sauber and Aston Martin, have since moved on to broadcasting careers.

Haas has a unique structure in that its internal operations are reduced as much as possible through its partnership with Ferrari.

Haas uses Ferrari’s wind tunnel, has its design team in Italy in Maranello and buys from Ferrari practically all the parts allowed in the regulations for its car, designing only the aerodynamic surfaces and the chassis.

Its headquarters are in Kannapolis, North Carolina, but the racing team has a modest factory in Banbury, Oxfordshire.

Komatsu said this would be the first year that Haas would have enough budget to meet F1’s budget cap. Another change in approach is that they would not use Ferrari’s latest redesigned front suspension, preferring to stick with last year’s design to maintain consistency of aerodynamic research.

Haas finished seventh overall last year, ahead of Racing Bulls, Williams and Sauber, and Komatsu said its sights were “set on consistency”.

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

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

“Who else only has 300 people or operates in this type of building?” Komatsu said.

“If Williams operated at his potential, there’s no way we could beat them. I want to get to a place where we can beat those types of people on merit without people making mistakes.”