Guenther Steiner replacement at Haas warns of looming change for F1's strugglers

18 January 2024 , 17:57

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Ayao Komatsu is the new Haas F1 team principal (Image: LAT Photo/Haas F1 Team)

Ayao Komatsu is filling the team principal role vacated by Guenther Steiner - but he will make no attempt to replace the axed Haas boss.

Steiner led the outfit for a decade, having conceived of the idea to form the team and convinced American businessman Gene Haas to finance the project. But, in a phone call between Christmas and the New Year, he was told his contract would not be renewed.

But staff will still have a familiar face to look up to despite Steiner's exit. Komatsu has worked for the team since 2016 and is promoted to the top job having served most recently as director of engineering.

While results were not good enough for the owner under Steiner's leadership, the departing boss leaves a gaping hole. His loud personality won him an army of fans across the globe and, if nothing else, he was a useful marketing tool for the team with the smallest budget in Formula 1.

Internally, though, there is going to be a huge change in terms of leadership style. Komatsu warned as much as he spoke to reporters for the first time since the news broke of his promotion.

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"Of course, I'm not trying to be Guenther Steiner. He's a very different person," said the Japanese engineer. "I'm not here to replace Guenther Steiner's character. He's a very different character, as you know. He's got very different strengths and weaknesses to me, so I'm not trying to be somebody else.

"Gene knows that, and if Gene wanted Guenther Steiner's replacement in that way, he'd have appointed somebody else. I understand that Gene wanted something different, so I'll try to be the best version of myself rather than trying to be somebody else."

A Loughborough University graduate and an F1 paddock veteran of 20 years, Komatsu has the engineering know-how to be able to lead comfortably on that front. But he admits there are other areas in which he needs to make swift progress now that he is in the hot seat.

The 47-year-old added: "I'm going to Italy to meet with all the designers and the aerodynamicists we have got over there. I need to increase my understanding in that area. What are the core issues? How can we improve that?

"I spoke to some of the people here, but it's not like I've spoken with everybody already. So, I'd like to wait until I speak with everyone. Then get people together and formulate an overview, rather than me saying, 'Okay, within the last three days I identified this', which may not be a correct representation."

Daniel Moxon