Ayao Komatsu has explained why Haas elected to announce only a single-race outing for Rafael Camara rather than immediately confirming that he would feature at additional races.

Camara made his F1 debut in front of his home fans in Brazil.

Haas explain Rafael Camara announcement

Haas has been in turmoil with its driver line-up after an incident involving Esteban Ocon saw the team take the decision to axe him for the remainder of the season.

Having completed FP1, Toyota driver and Haas reserve Ryo Hirakawa completed an impressive debut in Mexico, scoring a point after post-race penalties were applied, but a clash with the World Endurance Championship finale meant it was always unlikely that he would return in Brazil.

The obvious option was to place 2027 driver and current F2 championship leader Camara into the seat to gain vital experience ahead of his full-time debut at the start of next year.

Having decided to do just this, Haas made the announcement, but only for a single race, generating further discussion on whether Camara or Hirakawa will drive in the closing triple-header.

“Ryo did a fantastic job in Mexico, with such short notice,” said team principal Komatsu.

“Yes, he had FP1, but to then jump in the car from FP3 on and to deliver qualifying, deliver the race is a huge pressure, huge challenge, right? But again, he’s so professional. He’s very, very good to work with. And again, his preparation, you know, for somebody to be preparing for that long time without knowing when that opportunity might arise, it’s not easy, right?

“You’ve always got to be ready to perform at your best. But again, just, you know, full credit to his professionalism. He’s been preparing, so when that news was delivered, he was ready, you know, and then he performed.

“So that, of course, makes my decision difficult here, right? So yeah, it was definitely not an easy decision. Even maybe from outside, and he’s already signed for next year, it might look like a very easy decision, but it wasn’t.”

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F2 is currently slated to race alongside F1 in both Qatar and Abu Dhabi, raising questions as to whether the Brazilian will continue in F1 or return to the junior category in a bid to take the title.

He currently leads the way by seven points from Red Bull junior Nikola Tsolov, with Alex Dunne also in contention.

As for the decision not to confirm Camara for Las Vegas, where F2 will not be competing, Komatsu added: “I just like to take it one step at a time, really, because it’s again for Rafa a huge challenge that I really want to protect him, and I just don’t want to put any external pressure.

“Of course, you know, the complication he’s got is the F2 championship as well. So in a way that I only let’s say dealt with something I had to deal with, if you like, which is this weekend.

“So that’s what we’ve done, and then we really focused on this weekend.”