Laura Muller: Haas hires German as Formula 1’s first female race engineer

Ahead of the 2024 season, team principal Komatsu said he wanted to change the race operations team after seeing weaknesses since the beginning of last year.

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

The new chief race engineer is Francesco Nancy, who most recently worked on Audi’s Dakar Rally program and has F1 experience at Sauber and Toyota. Mark Lowe, previously Haas Operations Group Manager, will become Sporting Director.

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

“At the end of the year we had the fifth fastest car. But in terms of performance, we should have finished P6 (in the construction championship) but we didn’t.

“Part of it is that we left too many points on the table from the trackside operation. So a step up is much needed.”

Hailing from France, Kreidelich follows other female strategy leaders, including Red Bull chief strategy engineer Hannah Schmitz. Ruth Buscombe and Bernie Collins, formerly at Sauber and Aston Martin, have both moved into broadcasting.

Haas have a unique structure in their partnership with Ferrari, with as much in-house work going back as far as possible.

Haas uses Ferrari’s wind tunnel, has their design team in Maranello in Italy and buys almost all the parts allowed in their car’s rules from Ferrari, except for the airfoils and chassis design.

Their headquarters are in Kannapolis, North Carolina, but the racing team also runs a modest factory in Banbury, Oxfordshire.

Komatsu Haas says this will be the first year it has enough budget to reach the F1 budget cap. A further change in approach is that they don’t use Ferrari’s latest redesigned front suspension, preferring to stick with last year’s design for aerodynamic research consistency.

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

“Historically over the years with Haas, I don’t think we’ve had a competitive season in the same way,” he said.

He also said he is keen to further improve a team that is “punching above its weight” with limited resources.

“Who (else) has only 300 people or works out of a building like this?” Komatsu said.

“There’s no way we’re going to be able to beat Williams if they’re at their best. I want to get to a point where we can beat those guys effectively without people freaking out.”