Haas Team Struggles with Persistent High-Speed Instability Issue

The high-speed instability that has been troubling the Haas F1 team for quite some time now is a nerve-wracking conundrum, as candidly admitted by team principal Ayao Komatsu in Miami. This issue, which causes the VF-25 to enter a phase of vertical oscillation in high-speed corners, has been a thorn in their side, hindering their progress and costing valuable track time, especially during sprint weekends.

Experimental Floor Tweaks and Unpredictable Occurrences

In an attempt to tackle this issue, Haas fast-tracked some experimental floor modifications for the Japanese Grand Prix weekend, bypassing the usual simulation procedures. While these changes seemed to lessen the VF-25’s susceptibility to vertical oscillation in high-speed corners, the team still finds it challenging to predict when and where this instability will occur.

The team is left with no choice but to run the car extensively to gather data, which eats into precious track time during sprint weekends, making the situation even more difficult. “If you had a standard weekend,” Komatsu explained, “most of Friday, or I would say at least half of Friday, we’re trying to understand if we’ve got that issue or not.

The Challenge of Simulating High-Speed Oscillation

The phenomenon of high-speed oscillation has been a problem for various teams since the introduction of the current ground-effect ruleset. To generate maximum downforce, the car needs to be close to the track surface, but if it gets too close and the underfloor airflow ‘stalls’, the car can enter an uncontrolled cycle of vertical oscillation.

Mitigating this requires a delicate balance between aerodynamics and suspension kinematics. It’s difficult to simulate, which is why Haas was caught off guard when the issue surfaced in the first round of this season. In the second round, at China, the smoother track surface and fewer high-speed corners meant the problem did not manifest itself, but that didn’t mean it had been resolved or that they fully understood the cause.

The Quest for a Comprehensive Understanding

Despite an upcoming upgrade package for the next round at Imola, Haas is still grappling with a full understanding of why the VF-25 is behaving as it is. “I wouldn’t say [we have a] completely full grasp,” said Komatsu, “because if we did, I think we could be confident that in the future we can bring a solution that completely eradicates the issue.

While they understand certain dimensions, there are still uncertainties regarding how the dynamics initiate. “I wouldn’t say we’re completely on top of it,” Komatsu admitted. “But every time we’re running, it’s better.” If they can achieve robustness and consistency, Haas aims to fight consistently in the midfield. Whether the Imola package will help them reach that goal remains to be seen.