Haas signs Camara for 2027 on raw speed alone, Komatsu insists Ferrari ties were irrelevant

Rafael Camara will race for Haas in Formula 1 from 2027 after outperforming every rival in the team’s testing of previous cars programme, with team principal Ayao Komatsu firmly dismissing suggestions that the Brazilian’s ties to Ferrari’s Driver Academy played any part in the decision.

Haas ran Camara alongside reigning F2 champion Leonardo Fornaroli, reserve driver Ryo Hirakawa and Jack Doohan in a series of TPC sessions using the 2025 car. It was Camara’s first outing at Portimao that settled the matter. Komatsu described the current F2 championship leader as “simply outstanding” at the Portuguese circuit, praising both his raw pace and his ability to adapt as track conditions shifted across the run.

“He was the quickest — that’s a very simple answer,” Komatsu said. “Through those evaluations, Rafa just showed incredible speed and feel. That was the fully overriding factor above everything else.”

Komatsu acknowledged that Haas’s relationship with Ferrari does grant the team access to FDA-affiliated drivers, pointing to how a similar pathway brought Oliver Bearman to the team — first through a 2023 FP1 appearance in Mexico, then six practice outings the following year, and ultimately a race seat for 2025. Camara’s path followed the same logic, but Komatsu was clear that access and selection are separate things.

“We have a good relationship with Ferrari, as you all know, but that just means it gives us access to FDA drivers,” he said. “And then in the Portimao TPC test, he was just simply outstanding.”

With Camara now confirmed alongside the expected retention of Bearman, Haas will field two Ferrari juniors in 2027 — an outcome Komatsu frames as coincidence rather than policy.

The Haas boss conceded that Camara’s race craft is still a work in progress, noting inconsistency in tyre management across his F2 campaign. His performances in qualifying at Monaco and Montreal, however, reinforced the impression of a driver with exceptional natural ability. For Komatsu, that instinctive feel is the quality that cannot be developed through coaching — and the one that ultimately made Camara the choice.

“Sometimes his race craft can be improved,” Komatsu said. “But those things I believe we can work together to improve. We cannot teach feeling. And the feeling he’s got was very, very clear in Portimao.”