Haas tipped to sign axed F1 team boss after surprise Guenther Steiner exit

22 January 2024 , 18:18

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Otmar Szafnauer was axed as Alpine team principal last July (Image: Getty Images)

Haas have been tipped to give Otmar Szafnauer a route back to the Formula 1 paddock to lead the team alongside Ayao Komatsu.

The Japanese engineer has been promoted by the F1 bottomfeeders to become their new team principal. It follows the exit of Guenther Steiner who co-founded the team a decade ago and had led since Haas' first F1 race in 2016.

Owner Gene Haas made it clear he wanted more of a focus on engineering, hence why Komatsu was given command. But the team is also hiring a chief operating officer to take care of the other side of the team principal role.

Former Alpine boss Szafnauer has been suggested as an ideal candidate for that vacancy. Ralf Schumacher believes it is a good role for the 59-year-old given his experience of having led smaller F1 teams.

And he is available, having been axed without warning last July when the Renault board decided to make abrupt changes at the Alpine team. "Otmar is someone who is well-known in Formula 1 and who also has expertise," Schumacher told Formel1.de.

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"One thing is technical expertise, but the other thing is to go out and look for good minds, sometimes at universities. Having this foresight and generating new people to take the team forward is a skill that I trust Otmar to have."

Schumacher suggested this is why Szafnauer should have the edge of Mattia Binotto, another out-of-work former team boss, for this role, adding: "I can't imagine Mattia Binotto doing that. He's also more associated with Audi, but I don't quite see how that fits in with Andreas Seidl. I'm curious about that."

Whoever fills the vacant COO role will, along with Komatsu, have a huge job on their hands. The owner declared himself "embarrassed" with results in recent years as he reflected on his decision to axe Steiner, but the general consensus is that his unwillingness to allow outside investment into the team has also contributed to its stagnation.

Still, Komatsu feels his boss is justified in his comments. The Japanese said: "You saw and heard how unhappy Gene was. I mean, of course, who's going to be happy competing in last place? It is embarrassing. It really is embarrassing. So I think it's positive that Gene's unhappy where we are.

"If the people in the team think, 'Okay, we are last, and then we're not sure where we're going because Gene doesn't say anything', then [they will think], is Gene happy just making up numbers being P10? That's clearly not the case. It's actually motivating for everyone here. Okay, Gene is serious, he wants to improve the team. So let's do it together."

Daniel Moxon