Rob Smedley casts doubt on Haas's chances of becoming F1 frontrunners

Former Ferrari Formula 1 race engineer Rob Smedley has argued that the structure of Haas will prevent it from becoming a frontrunning team in the championship.

The American outfit joined the F1 grid in 2016, relying heavily on a technical partnership with Ferrari. While the approach allowed Haas to enter the championship in a more cost-effective manner, it has often contributed to a mid-season drop-off in performance as it struggles to keep up in the development race.

Smedley offered a blunt mid-season assessment of Haas's 2026 campaign during an episode of the High Performance Racing podcast. Despite widespread respect for the management style of Ayao Komatsu, who took over from Guenther Steiner in January 2024, Smedley believes the team's ceiling is capped by its business model.

"They will never have the possibility with their current construct," Smedley stated. "They will never have the possibility of being frontrunners."

Broadcaster Jake Humphrey, who co-hosts the High Performance Racing podcast with Smedley and former Alpine team principal Otmar Szafnauer, added: "Haas is the team I find the most frustrating on the Formula 1 grid, in the way that they always seem to start with a fast car and don't seem to develop the car. Maybe they don't have the resources or the ability to develop the car."

Esteban Ocon, Haas F1 Team (Photo by: Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images)

Haas currently sits seventh in the constructors' championship with 21 points, and drivers Oliver Bearman and Esteban Ocon are 13th and 17th in the drivers' championship with 18 and three points, respectively.

After picking up 17 points in the first two rounds, Bearman suffered three grand prix retirements and scored only one point in the following nine rounds.

"I also absolutely adore Ayao Komatsu's management style and approach," Humphrey added. "I think Ollie Bearman is an exceptional driver and I would just love to see them further up the grid. Not Haas particularly, the people at Haas. I'd like to see Komatsu in charge of a team further up the grid and I'd like to see Ollie Bearman driving for a team further up the grid."