Lance Glinn:
Welcome into another episode of the Inside the ICE House podcast. Today's guest is Ayao Komatsu. He is the team principal of the TGR Haas Formula 1 Team. Ayao, thanks so much for joining us inside the ICE House. Happy to have you here.
Ayao Komatsu:
No, thank you very much for having me.
Lance Glinn:
So the relationship between Haas F1 and Toyota began with a multi-year technical partnership in 2024 and then deepened with the title partnership at the end of 2025. When you look at the progression over the years and the collaboration between these two entities, what has worked between the two groups, and what has made it over the years just such a strong fit?
Ayao Komatsu:
I think to start off with chairman, Akio Toyoda, Mr. Akio Toyoda. So when we started talking about the partnership in early part of 24, then when we realized, okay, we can do something exciting. I really wanted to meet him, and then I've heard that he wanted to meet me as well. So we met up in his Tokyo office in summer of 24. And then the minute we met each other, it's like we knew each other for like 10, 15 years. Now, I think I had about hour and a bit with him. And we just talked about what's important to us, what excites us, what gets us up in the morning. And he was such a inspirational guy, and then genuine, honest, passionate person. So we talked about those things. Then I remember when the meeting finished, one of the Toyota guy came to me and said, "Ayao, son, do you realize that Mr. Chairman and you didn't talk about the contract?" And I said, "Yeah, that's right." But to be honest, for me, the bigger the collaboration is, I think that relationship is so important.
So I feel really grateful that I had the opportunity to meet with Akio [inaudible 00:01:49]. And then once we realized we both care about the same thing, we want to contribute in a similar way, business side will take care of itself. So that's really the origin of this collaboration. So everything goes back to that. Akio sometimes says to his guys, "Your job is to make the Haas F1 Team go faster." But for me, this partnership has to be completely fifty-fifty. And we both care about human beings, we really want to develop human beings, people. It doesn't matter if you're a driver or engineer or mechanic, doing marketing, communication, finance, Formula 1, for me, is a great environment to develop personality, personal character so that these person can get best out of themselves at any environment.
Lance Glinn:
Sure.
Ayao Komatsu:
So Formula 1 is a vehicle, provides environment. And then it's just Akio [inaudible 00:02:42] wanted to do what I really wanted to put together, really coincided. So this is why it's a long-term partnership.
Lance Glinn:
Yeah, and I like that story because like you said, the ultimate technical goal is to make things go faster, make the car go faster, obviously improve performance. But there is that personal relationship side of things that matters so much. What's not on paper, so to speak, is what matters so much, not the numbers, not the performance, it's the, can you sit across from a person, have a genuine conversation with them, really collaborate, really meet, really just become a family, so to speak? And it seems like you were able to forge that partnership with the people at Toyota and really make this team come to be.
Ayao Komatsu:
Yeah, because if you start from that basis, of course, we are two different entities because even though we want to go together towards our common goal, there would be a moment where, okay, actually TGR Toyota wants this, the Haas F1 Team wants this, but if we had that mindset from the start that what we want to do together, then this partnership needs to be fifty-fifty, we can always find common ground, compromise in a good way to meet in the middle somewhere. And then that kind of collaborative partnership is the key, otherwise, when you have different interests, your conflicts, you're fighting.
Lance Glinn:
True. A lot of clashing.
Ayao Komatsu:
Right, that's not a positive relationship. So with TGR Toyota, because of how we started, what we want to achieve at the top level, we are very collaborative. And then we are doing lots of technical projects together, which as a Haas F1 Team on our own, couldn't do before. So it's a really exciting time for both of us.
Lance Glinn:
And I think when you look at the partnership as a whole, a compelling thing is that it does go beyond performance and it really goes into building a sustainable motorsports culture, I think to a certain point too. When we talk about drivers, engineers, mechanics, all the people involved, how does working with Toyota TGR change the way Haas develops talent, and really builds just long-term human capital?
Ayao Komatsu:
Yeah. So again, like I said, developing personal has been something very important to myself and Akio [inaudible 00:04:51]. And one of the projects we started in beginning of last year was actually create this test car program. So by regulation, you can use your old generation of cars to the test car program because current car, you cannot run outside of the race weekend, the offshore testing events. But that means the opportunity we can provide to young up and coming drivers or young engineers to have the environment to train young mechanics is very limited. But again, through this collaboration partnership, we are able to create this separate entity, the test team. That's where we've been able to give opportunity to young up and coming drivers from our Toyota side, and also, we are integrating Toyota engineers with our engineers.
And then in the future, honestly, I don't see the limit, I just want to touch all part of organization to really using that test team environment as an environment to really develop people in a correct environment. That correct environment, correct culture is very, very important. Then ideally, through that kind of environment, you want to grow people. Then whether these people is going to stay in the Formula 1 project or actually go back to Toyota Motor Corporation, I said to Akio [inaudible 00:06:01], "It doesn't matter. At the end of the day, in that environment, in an amazing environment to develop people, we developed somebody who can perform at any environment, home or away, in the international culture. If he or she goes back to Toyota Motor Corporation road car side, I'm sure in the future, this person could be the very key personnel to develop the company further. Then as a result, TMC will become more competitive." So I think it's just a really greater opportunity to collaborate, and that's what we are doing.
Lance Glinn:
And from what you've seen from the people on the Haas side, how has this relationship and this collaboration changed the way people show up to work, the way they collaborate, and the way they think about growth within the team too?
Ayao Komatsu:
Yeah. Again, of course, we are the smallest team on the grid. So we are saying for us to perform, we've got to really work together as a team. Then what's important, we've got to be inclusive, we've got to be supporting to each other. Of course, we got to have a clear objective and strategy. But at the end of the day, what makes difference is people. So we are 400, and bigger teams at 1200 people. So if these 400 people is not working together, supporting each other aligned with the common goal, there's no chance we can compete. And then Toyota, again, between Akio [inaudible 00:07:26] and myself, we have the same philosophy. So again, with this collaboration, we can expand that capability a bit gradually. We cannot suddenly take a huge step, 50% increase.
But step by step, by having the environment, like test team environment and we are actually working on some other testing projects together as well, and then again, with the skillset Toyota [inaudible 00:07:48] can offer, we are learning from each other. That's the most important thing. Then we all have a sight, career sight in terms of what we want to achieve, not maybe just a result, but in terms of culture, in terms of progress, what we want to create in three to five years down the line. So that alignment is very, very important. And then having that clear mindset about going back every day, but having a clear understanding of, this is what we want to create, not just the result, not just what, but how are we going to do about it? That changes the mindset of people, I believe.
Lance Glinn:
Yeah. No, absolutely. Now, I want to pivot the conversation a little bit to the growth of the sport as a whole. And in 2017, Liberty Media took control and direction of Formula 1 and has helped the sport go through, I think, a global transformation of sports, specifically here in the United States to a certain point, and we'll get to that in just a little bit. But before we do, there's been the success of Drive to Survive. There's been films like F1. From your perspective, how has the evolution in storytelling and media exposure changed the perception of the sport and the way that fans interact with it?
Ayao Komatsu:
Wow. Yeah, it changed hugely. I've been doing Formula 1 for 23 years now. I started in 2003.
Lance Glinn:
And how different was it in 2003 compared to now as we sit here in 2026? It must be light years different.
Ayao Komatsu:
Completely, completely, night and day, totally different, because back then, let's say we are not entertainment, shall I say, we are more just going racing, which is good because I wanted to race. So I saw Formula 1 in the late '80s and then got really, really excited about the racing and then high performing cars and human dramas between drivers. All that, we still had 23 years ago. But then we weren't embracing the new opportunity, for instance, the digital era, social media, we weren't really embracing it for long, long time. We're trying to come to a US market, but we could never break into it. But with the Liberty Media and mindset changes, approach changes, I feel like since Liberty Media came, we embraced these new technologies, new culture. And then with, like you said, Netflix, the fan base group, now we have 42% of the fans are female, and we have such a young audience.
So now, our audience is so diverse. And then initially, because let's say I was more coming from traditional interest in motorsport, I thought motorsports has to be really pure. But I thought these days, at least last five years, I think my eyes are much more open, saying like, wow, it doesn't have to be motorsports with this, it can be very different way to consume it, different ways to enjoy people. If you go to China, all those Chinese funds, they treat, let's say drivers, especially our drivers like K-pop stars, which is fine. It's not something I thought maybe 10 years ago, but that shows a different dimension.
Then we have three races in US now. We have Austin, [inaudible 00:10:46], and then Miami, which is this weekend, and then Las Vegas. But these three races all have very, very different appeal to different audiences, which I think is great, because if you look at 10 years, I think the type of event you had chance of success would be quarter. But now, we have a very different vibe in Miami and Vegas, and then all of them are very unique. And I think as a global sport, it's such an amazing thing that we got such a diverse fan base.
Lance Glinn:
And so you mentioned the three in the US, Miami, Austin, and Las Vegas. What do those races say about the sports ambitions here in the United States, because the sport has a lot of other sports to compete with? But with these three races, and who knows, maybe in the years to come, even more here in the United States, what does that say about the sports ambitions to grow the sport here?
Ayao Komatsu:
Yeah, it's a huge statement. Like I said in the previous era, we struggled to have one race in USA, then we had race in Indianapolis and that ended with a pretty poor race, and then we came back to Austin. But then Austin is more set up like a more traditional Grand Prix, and they had a bit of up and downs one. Now, it's amazing. But then to be able to have the additional Miami and Las Vegas to create totally different vibe and then appearing to different audience, it shows our ambition, and also shows that Formula 1 as a sport, we're not stuck in old ways. Yes, there's some values in definitely traditional races. I love those traditional races like Spa-Francorchamps, Silverstone, British Grand Prix, Suzuka, those amazing circuit, hardcore, let's say racers races, that should remain as well.
Monaco. Monaco is everything about qualifying. It's a very, very glamorous, yachts everywhere, to having a race in Austin, North America, but closer to traditional race than Miami, much more than celebrity type race, the racing in the Hard Rock Stadium. It's those totally different characteristics. We have 24 races a year. So I think it's really nice that, let's say, each those 24 races have a uniqueness.
Lance Glinn:
Have you ever dreamed about driving around Manhattan, through all the buildings, through all the parks?
Ayao Komatsu:
Yeah, yeah, yeah, of course.
Lance Glinn:
That would be fun.
Ayao Komatsu:
Yeah, that would be fun.
Lance Glinn:
It would be a project to get it together with how busy the city is and everything to deal with, but that would be fun.
Ayao Komatsu:
Yeah. Yeah, and then also, cities. Traditionally, again, because of the requirement of the circuit, we never raced in a city. Silverstone, we talked about British Grand Prix, that's in countryside, Suzuka, in the countryside, Spa-Francorchamps, in the countryside. But if you want to create a dynamic track, high speed track, it has to be in the countryside. But then I remember doing the Singapore Grand Prix for the first time in the city race, it was the first night race as well. I wasn't sure how it's going to go until I turned up. Then once I turned up, wow, looks spectacular, sure looks amazing, even though again, it's not a high speed circuit.
So like I said, I think we got to use the opportunity to have 24 races. We got to look at what's the period of this Grand Prix? What's the [inaudible 00:14:00] of this Grand Prix? What's working here? Okay, maybe we can put another dimension here. So I think we're talking about dimensions. We don't want to create 24 races with 24 street circuit racing in the city. That would be too, let's say, repetitive, I think. So I think it's a fine line to have the compromise, not compromised, combination. But I think places like New York City, or why do we race in Vegas? In Vegas, when you say the name Vegas, everybody knows.
Lance Glinn:
Everyone. Eyes open.
Ayao Komatsu:
Exactly. So that adds dimension too. So yeah, it's open to new ideas for sure.
Lance Glinn:
No, it needs to be dynamic, like you said. It needs to be unique, as you said too. It can't just be in any old city because as you mentioned, it would be repetitive. It needs to be something special about each and [inaudible 00:14:47]?
Ayao Komatsu:
Yeah, exactly. Why are we coming here? Why we have been hosting race here? What's the appeal here?
Lance Glinn:
And how have you seen, with these three races, American audiences engage with the events? And how does TGR Haas approach fan connection, brand partnerships and other aspects to better promote, obviously, the team brand as well as the sport brand?
Ayao Komatsu:
Yeah, yeah, it's a very good question. American audience, I think now embracing it, which is amazing. 10 years ago, I couldn't have imagined this, or even five years ago. I remember coming for a movie premier last year in the Times Square. When I got off the car, I was like, "Wow." Seriously, five years ago, I couldn't have imagined that. So again, thanks to Liberty Media and also Netflix series and all this various media outlet that we managed to appear to so many different, diverse group of people, which is amazing. And then in terms of opportunity, as a TGR Haas F1 Team, we are one of the newest teams until last year. Until this year, we are the youngest team. We are only 11 years old, and we are privateer. We purely exist to race.
Our owner, Mr. Gene, has to make money. We are not here to sell drinks. We're not here to actually sell cars, even though we've got a title partnership with TGR. Akio [inaudible 00:16:05] objective is not to sell more Toyota cars through here, it's about developing people, creating culture. So we are here to exist purely for racing. So I think we are in a very unique position. So this is why, again, this morning's opportunity to come here in New York City during the opening bell for New York Stock Exchange is really, really special. And then again, that's actually made only possible by our partnership with Toyota. And then to do it on a Monday morning of the Miami Grand Prix weekend is incredible. So we like to look at our uniqueness, what differentiates us compared to the other maybe more established Formula 1 field. That's where I see our opportunities. So North America is a big, big opportunity for us.
Lance Glinn:
Absolutely. So I want to go into your mind because you've been at this for decades, as you mentioned before, at this point. And Formula 1 is a sport where decisions obviously are made within seconds, even less than that, milliseconds, right? Quick thinking, quick decision making. The consequences though of those decisions, of course, can last not just the race, but entire seasons, obviously.
Ayao Komatsu:
Yes.
Lance Glinn:
How do you think about training drivers and guiding decisions under extreme pressure, because it's not something you can really... Or I would think it's not something you can teach, some people just have to be born with the ability to think fast on their feet, so to speak.
Ayao Komatsu:
Yeah, but it's not only drivers though. Drivers are the ones driving the cars, they are the central piece of the team, but engineers, on Sunday during the race, engineers are making the pit stop calls, strategical course, when to stop, which tires to fit. Again, for the race start, procedure, what driver needs to do with their hands and foot, that's for them to execute. But in terms of setting parameter settings, that's down to the engineers. So engineers needs to make a very fast decision. But for me, lots comes down to the homework, preparation. Before Sunday, we do a computer simulation, but also, we simulating our head, certain things you cannot necessarily simulate in computer, certain scenarios. So again, lots of homework gives you that preparation. Then if you're prepared, most of the times, even when something unexpected happens, you can react calmly, so whereas if you hadn't done homework, just turn up on Sunday, start racing, something unfolds in front of you, total surprise, you won't be able to make a correct decision quickly.
And also, it's a mindset that you have to make a decision whether you like it or not. Bad thing is not having conviction to make a decision. Then if you don't make any decision for, let's say, next 15 seconds, that might mean you're missing the opportunity to pit stop at the right timing. Then one lap later, two minutes later, maybe you made certain decision, but it's too late. So for me, sending the message across the entire team that, "Look, actually, it's a high pressure situation, but it's a safe environment. Don't be afraid of the failure. You've got to make a decision. If you make a wrong one, we've got to review it. We need to understand..."
Lance Glinn:
You learn from it.
Ayao Komatsu:
... "Yeah, how we made a mistake and learn from it. But wrong thing is to freeze and make no decision." So it's just about that mindset and then creating the safe environment for people to feel like they are empowered, have a freedom to make those decisions.
Lance Glinn:
No, I like that. I definitely agree with the need for conviction, because like you said, if you have 10 seconds to make a decision and you decide not to make any decision, whether it's right or wrong, you're missing-
Ayao Komatsu:
You never have 100% facts. So then you got to make a decision every day, every hour, every minute with sometimes 40% of information, 60% of the fact. So it's all on the sliding scales. How much risk are you going to take? That comes a judgment. That, again, goes back to personnel, human beings. It doesn't matter how good your equipments are, at the end of the day, it's a human being making decisions. Therefore, it's very, very important to develop those people in the right culture. So when they come to the position where they need to make a decision, they have that mindset to be able to do that.
Lance Glinn:
And so you say it's people making a decision, which obviously it is, but how scientific has the sport become? How technology-based has the sport become?
Ayao Komatsu:
It's very, very highly technological based. Every day, we are making improvements on the technological side. Of course, the machine learning AI side is really transforming some of the way we work as well, not just the technology purely in terms of tools, but even just how you work is changing. But however, no matter how advanced the technologies are, at the end of the day, they don't make a decision for you. You write your software. People don't write software anymore, AI writes a software.
Lance Glinn:
You put a prompt in and have software written for you.
Ayao Komatsu:
But yeah, so software's there, hardware is there, computer information, GPS information, everything is there. But at the end of the day, human being needs to consume those information, filter it out, then take the right information, get rid of the noise, then make a decision. So that's the human capability. So again, for me, that's what makes it interesting. If it was so robotic, if Formula 1 was robotic, you had perfect drivers, perfect engineers, I don't think sports would be very popular, right?
Lance Glinn:
No, 100%. And now, every team, because you mentioned you have to make a decision, whether that's the right decision or the wrong decision, you have to make a decision, and if it is the wrong decision, you ultimately learn from that decision. But every team in any sport, whether whether it's Formula 1, baseball, soccer, football, whatever, you name it, they go through difficult periods. And it's easy for doubt or a losing mindset, so to speak, to creep into one's mind.
Ayao Komatsu:
Yeah.
Lance Glinn:
How do you work with your drivers and the team overall to eliminate that thinking, understand that wrong decisions happen, understand that sometimes failure comes, but then learn from it and grow, because you don't want to experience that failure and then have it linger, you need to be essentially, what do people say, like a goldfish, you do something and then it's out of your mind five seconds later? How do you work with your team to make sure that that failure, sure, you learn from it, but then by the time the next race comes or the next lap comes, it's already out of the picture?
Ayao Komatsu:
Yeah, yeah, that's a good question. I can give you one very good example of what happened in the beginning of last year. We did the pre-season testing in Bahrain. Everything was good, we are confident. We went to Australia for our first race. The minute we started running, we saw just in front of our eyes, wow, this car's got really big problem, issue. The driver couldn't drive through the high speed corners. And we had to accept that very, very quickly. And then first step is accepting that we got big issue. If you're in denial over that, you cannot find solution. So accept we got issue, then share that. And then two, share what's the problem we are facing here? This problem, what's the root cause of it? Is it aerodynamic problem? Is it a drivability problem, mechanical problem? Then again, agree on that. And from that point onwards, my job was to set a target.
Look, what's optional, what's not optional, and what we need to achieve when? But how we can achieve it, I left it to all the guys who created those cars because I said to them, "Last year, you managed to create a very competitive car. Nothing changed. You're the same people, same group, but we made a mistake somewhere from the end of 24 to beginning of 25 to miss this. But our job is, again, not doing anything for two weeks time in Japanese Grand Prix is not option, because Suzuka, Japanese Grand Prix is detailed with high speed corners. So we're going to be last by far. That's not an option. So we've got to do something, but to make things happen within such a short time window, we got to cut our normal process. So that means higher risk."
But I said, "I'll take that risk as a leader. So I trust your engineering judgment. So you have to come up with one or two solutions. And even if we get it wrong in two weeks time, if we get it wrong, at least we know that's not the direction we should go. If we get it right, great. But if we don't do anything, we don't learn anything. In our understanding, three weeks time is exactly what happens here today. So that's not option." So I laid that clearly, but then let my guys really do it. Because I used to be an engineer, I really wanted to go into saying like, "Look at this, look at this, look at that."
Lance Glinn:
Yeah, you wanted to jump in, but you have to hold back.
Ayao Komatsu:
But I really tried hard to hold back. And I'm so happy I did that because then, they came up with the solution, a couple of solutions, and both of them actually worked. So that gave them so much confidence and then trust in the process, thinking process, judgment call. Imagine the amount of confidence that gave to our group of engineers, the leading engineers. Then as a result of that, by the end of 25, they managed to have a amazing development. We finished the season with fifth fastest car. So you talk about tough times when some big mistakes happen, that's when I think what you say is really tested. It's easy to say what I say right now without any action, but that's the time where all of us really needed to put action on the table, which we did. We behaved correctly, we behaved in a collaborative manner, inclusive manner, [inaudible 00:25:21] culture, then result was that.
So again, cliche saying, but what doesn't break you makes you stronger, that's exactly what happened. So it's just a continuation of that. Then trusting each other, trusting the process, trusting in people. Yes, we are doing it right away. So step by step. So I feel this year, and thanks to that experience, actually, but at that time, obviously that's not the experience none of us wanted to have.
Lance Glinn:
Of course not.
Ayao Komatsu:
But that really made us strong as a team. And then again, [inaudible 00:25:49] start believing the culture we're building is the correct one.
Lance Glinn:
So I want to pivot the conversation a little bit to talent evaluation, and we spoke to that earlier in the conversation when we talked about the partnership with TGR. What are some key traits or characteristics that you look for when identifying drivers? What qualities do you prioritize that are essential for long-term team success and cohesion, again, whether it be drivers, or those behind the scenes like engineers?
Ayao Komatsu:
Yeah, yeah, for sure. For me, again, depending on drivers or let's say technical people, let's talk about engineers, it's just easy comparison.
Lance Glinn:
As an engineer yourself, what are you looking for in engineering?
Ayao Komatsu:
Yeah. So the answer to your question is a bit different if you're a driver or engineer, because for a driver, they are athletes, they are the sportsman.
Lance Glinn:
Sure.
Ayao Komatsu:
They need to have ability to drive very fast. If you haven't got that, no matter how good the personality or how collaborative you are, ultimately, in Formula 1, you cannot succeed, whereas again, engineering is a bit different. Yes, you got to have the fundamental education, fundamental understanding, but lots of things. If you're open-minded, if you're collaborative, if you're a team member, if you are open, then if you're humble, you can progress, you can learn. Then for me, it's no point having, let's say one genius engineer, but who's got, let's say, a poisonous personality because that can destroy it for everyone. To be honest, I've seen it in my previous experience, I've been doing Formula 1 for 23 years, I've seen a few times, that's really destroys the team, destroys the team morale, destroys the culture.
So I'm focused on, is this person able to work collaboratively? Is this person, do they go [inaudible 00:27:32] on the team, because for me, nobody's [inaudible 00:27:34] on the team, everybody's working for the team, for the common goal of making this team more competitive, ultimately having a sporting success. It's not about me personally or my guys personally, it's about how you contribute to this teamwork. So I look at the personality quite a lot. And then again, even drivers, you know what makes Ollie Bearman, one of our two race drivers, is so special is when I started working with him in 24, I think, when he was 18, I was so impressed. Of course, he was fast, but that was obvious. But what was more impressive was at the age of 18, he really had understanding of big picture.
If team tells you, "Okay, this is the objective of this weekend. When you jump in a car for free practice, one session for one hour, this is the team's objective. Therefore, the [inaudible 00:28:24] you praise this, you've got to execute this and this." And for somebody on 18 years old, first time jumping in F1 car in Mexico City, to understand that is one thing, but actually execute that is another thing. And then I remember during practice session, we did, of course, the qualifying simulation, lower fuel, try to go as fast as possible. Okay, he made a mistake, one lap. Then during the slowdown lap, he was able to process his mistakes by himself, also at the same time, teams through engineers giving him feedback while he's still on the track. He was able to digest that. On the second opportunity, second push lap, he was able to improve it. So that ability to quickly [inaudible 00:29:04] was impressive too. So all this is the trait you look for in a driver, but it's not very often that you find that total package.
Lance Glinn:
Absolutely. So as we come to the end of our conversation, come near the end of our conversation, I want to look ahead just for a couple of minutes. Specifically in the United States, where do you see the biggest opportunities for Formula 1 to continue growing here, because we've gone from just Austin to now Austin, Miami, Las Vegas, we obviously talked about the dream of, hey, maybe one day, a Manhattan Grand Prix too, but where do you see the biggest opportunities for growth here in the United States?
Ayao Komatsu:
It's probably, for me, because it's only recently that we have such a popularity in US, and we've gone from having one race to three races, and then Vegas is only being only few years. So I still feel like we now created a very, very good base, and we need to explore order that more to understand it a bit more before I can even think about what would be the next step, because every popularity is growing, but that doesn't mean I should just sit there comfortably and say it's okay, what we're doing is working, just taking over every year. No, I'm not saying that. But I personally, maybe [inaudible 00:30:17] already have an idea, steps ahead, but for me personally, I still see a Vegas Grand Prix, we can improve from engagement, and also the atmosphere race weekend, et cetera, and also, it's quite cold as well. The whole experience, I think we can improve quite a lot in Vegas, whereas quarter, again, it's much more matured because we've been doing it longer.
So I feel like using this three very distinctive Grand Prix's to making most of the opportunities, and then once we get maximum out of all these three venues in the different characteristics, then maybe we can think about what else are we missing. But I still think doing more out of these three Grand Prix's and then continuing our push being open-minded of what is our American audience need? How can we pass on this excitement of Formula 1 [inaudible 00:31:05] to wider public? So there's lots to still grow, I think.
Lance Glinn:
So finally, Ayao, as you look towards the future now for TGR Haas F1 Team, what excites you about the future prospects for success and for growth?
Ayao Komatsu:
Yeah, what excites us is the growth, continuous improvement, because like I said, we grew quite a lot from 24 to this year, 26, but we still are the smallest team on the grid by some margin, not even half the size. But if we can do what we can do right now with this capability, this constraints, we got to be focused, we got to be efficient. But at the same time, our size needs to grow as well, our overall capability, absolute resource needs to grow. So if we can achieve already here, by adding bit more capability, bit more resources, what more can we achieve? So the growth and the journey is very, very exciting, and we are started creating a really good community of our right-minded partner as well. Of course, TGR is leading that community of partnership, but it's not just the TGR, we have so many other partners who are really having a synergy with our journey, coming through the journey together. So I think I'm just excited to do this journey together with our community of partners. That's, again, something very unique, I think.
Lance Glinn:
Ayao, best of luck with everything in the future. Thank you so much for joining us inside the ICE House.
Ayao Komatsu:
Thank you very much for having me.
Speaker 3:
That's our conversation for this week. Remember to rate, review, and subscribe wherever you listen, and follow us on X @ICEHousePodcast. From the New York Stock Exchange, we'll talk to you again next week inside the ICE House. Information contained in this podcast was obtained in part from publicly available sources and not independently verified. Neither ICE nor its affiliates make any representations or warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy or completeness of the information, and do not sponsor, approve, or endorse any of the content herein, all of which is presented solely for informational and educational purposes. Nothing herein constitutes an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy any security, or a recommendation of any security or trading practice. Some portions of the proceeding conversation may have been edited for the purpose of length or clarity.