Haas boss Ayao Komatsu says that new Formula 1 recruit Rafael Camara was chosen over the likes of Leonardo Fornaroli and Ryo Hirakawa due to the speed and adaptability he showed during the team's tests with older machinery.
In assessing drivers for 2027, Haas put together a series of runs with the 2025 car in its testing of previous cars (TPC) programme, inviting current Formula 2 championship leader Camara, reigning F2 champion Fornaroli and reserves Hirakawa and Jack Doohan.
It was in Camara's first test at Portimao where he impressed the Haas hierarchy with his pace, and with his ability to drive around the changes in conditions during the run. Komatsu enthused that the Brazilian was "outstanding" at the Portuguese circuit.
Komatsu has stated previously that Haas did not need to cater towards a particular junior team in selecting his drivers for 2027. Camara's signing, plus the expected retention of Oliver Bearman, means that Haas will field two Ferrari juniors next season.
But Komatsu explained that he was only ever going to pick the fastest driver in the TPC running. "He was the quickest, that's a very simple answer," Komatsu stated. "Definitely, he was impressive.
"I always said we're going to choose drivers by performance. And then through those evaluations, Rafa just showed incredible speed and feel. So that was the fully overriding factor above everything else. We have a good relationship with Ferrari, as you all know, but that just means that gives us access to FDA drivers.
Ayao Komatsu, Haas F1 Team
Photo by: Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images
"When we had Oli in the Mexico FP1 [in 2023], that was largely because of that. Then we were really impressed, so we got him to do six FP1s in the following year. Then we had a chance to sign him for '25 last year. And then Rafa was the same. We are watching his progress.
"And then his qualifying like Monaco and Montreal [in Formula 2], what he's done this year, was really impressive. So having that relationship with Ferrari gave us the chance to, let's say, have access to Rafa. And then in the Portimao TPC test, he was just simply outstanding.
"I really don't have huge concerns. Of course, there's risks involved in everything in whatever the decision you take. But for me, we really wanted to go for someone who's got this natural speed and feeling, because that's something you cannot teach.
"If you look at some of the F2 races, sometimes he races very well, good tyre management, but sometimes he doesn't. Sometimes his, let's say, race craft can be improved.
"But those things, I believe, we can work together to improve. But we cannot teach feeling. And the feeling he's got, that was very, very clear in Portimao testing because the track condition was always changing. Track temperature, wind condition. On top of that, we had some issue with tyre vibration as well.
"All the variations and difficulties thrown at him. He really judged it very, very well in a very calm manner, professional manner. So overall, that was a clear choice for us."
Rafael Camara, Invicta Racing
Photo by: Dom Gibbons / Formula 1 via Getty Images
Komatsu stated that a potential FP1 appearance for Camara before the end of the season was currently "TBC" and a decision that the team had licence to make later down the line.
He explained that Haas' previous experience with preparing Bearman for a drive in 2025 would feed into how the team works with Camara, but it needed to get to know its new recruit further before tailoring its programme towards him.
"It's a different situation, where we had access to Ollie throughout the year via multiple FP1 sessions," added Komatsu. "We don't know Rafa as well as we knew Ollie before we go into the full season. It's exciting, but I think we just got to look at who's in front of us.
"We need to understand who Rafa Camara is, what makes it work for him, what kind of things he strives on, what kind of things we need to watch out for. I think it's going to be a learning process for both of us.
"But we take every learning and huge confidence from how we've been working with Ollie throughout his rookie season and this year to develop his talent, develop his consistency, working together.
"It's Formula 1, you've got to take every opportunity of learning to improve the scenario. All the recent lessons we've learned with Ollie, we'll be putting everything into Rafa. But first and foremost, we need to understand Rafa Camara as an individual. He's also a rookie, but they're two different people."
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