Haas confirm huge cost cap update as ‘whole different mindset’ takes hold

Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu has revealed that F1 2025 is set to be the first season in which team owner Gene Haas “doesn’t have to put his money in” for his F1 operation.

And Komatsu has confirmed that Haas will be operating at the limit of Formula 1’s budget cap for the first time this season, with their spending power previously falling below the threshold.

Haas confirm two significant milestones for F1 2025 season

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

Haas finished P7 in last season’s Constructors’ Championship, earning extra prize money that has boosted the team’s coffers for this season.

On top of that, their technical partnership with Toyota will begin to expand as the year progresses, having taken in their first ever Testing of a Previous Car [TPC] run at Jerez earlier in January, with new drivers Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman.

With the team now having the power to spend at the sport’s budget cap, despite still being the smallest team on the grid in terms of staff numbers, Komatsu confirmed that Mr Haas is unlikely to need to top up funding for his Formula 1 operation in a first for the team.

He accepted that brings its own challenges with it, however, in terms of how to stay within Formula 1’s spending limits in the upcoming season.

“This year is the first time that, I think, as a company, Gene doesn’t have to put his money in, so it’s great,” Komatsu revealed to media including PlanetF1.com.

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“We haven’t been hitting budget cap, [but] we are hitting the budget cap this year, so we’ve got a whole different challenge of making sure we stay within the budget cap.

“Before, because we are under the budget cap, if we had money, we could spend it, if you like, without worrying about it – but now we have to think about making sure we stay within the budget cap and [be] efficient. The things we can exclude, we need to exclude, etc.

“That’s a whole different mindset. But again, if you want to be competitive, that’s [the] minimum where you should be, right?

“So finally, I feel like we’re ticking many boxes, like we started doing TPC [testing], be on the budget cap and being basically profitable, if you like.

“So, with all the prize money from last year, sponsorship money, etc, etc, this year, Gene shouldn’t have to put his money in, which is great.”

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