Guenther Steiner has been sacked as Haas team principal, with director of engineering Ayao Komatsu being promoted to replace him. Steiner, a popular figure with F1 fans, was the team’s first boss after convincing owner Gene Haas to branch out into the sport a decade ago.
The 58-year-old helped to build the team from the ground up, with his own popularity being of great commercial benefit given their lack of funding compared to their rivals. However, their consistently poor results have ultimately resulted in his dismissal, with Haas opting to make a change in a bid to improve their fortunes.
In a statement, the team’s owner said: “I’d like to start by extending my thanks to Guenther Steiner for all his hard work over the past decade and I wish him well for the future.
“Moving forward as an organisation, it was clear we need to improve our on-track performances. In appointing Ayao Komatsu as team principal, we fundamentally have engineering at the heart of our management.”
Steiner has been replaced as team principal by Komatsu, a paddock veteran who has been with Haas since 2016. He began his career in motorsport in 2003 as a tyre engineer for British American Racing before spending 10 years with Renault, now Alpine, working in various roles with the Enstone outfit.
Haas reportedly considered whether to relieve Steiner of his duties for around six weeks before finally pulling the trigger, with the decision coming less than two months before the start of the new season. The team will be aiming to improve on their last-placed finish in the Constructors’ Championship standings in 2023, which saw them earn a total of just 12 points.
Kevin Magnussen admitted that it had been a ‘tough’ year for the team after the season finale in Abu Dhabi, saying: “I guess as always, there’s many things to be learned when it’s this tough that you wouldn’t have learned if it was smooth sailing.
“It’s character building and it’s strength. You get resilient, we build-up resilience to hard times. It’s not something I enjoy, I haven’t enjoyed this year too much, but there’s always another day to fight. Next year is another big opportunity for us.”
Only time will tell if the decision to replace Steiner with Komatsu will pay off, with Haas still very much a backmarker team due to their lack of progress over the last 10 years. They are due to reveal their 2024 car, the Ferrari-powered VF-24, next month before pre-season testing gets underway in Bahrain a few weeks later.
Technical director Simone Resta has also left his role in an unexpected move due to an internal difference of opinion, according to Motorsport.com. It is claimed that Resta chose to walk away following a disagreement with the team’s American owner, while a lack of ‘motivation’ is also said to have played a part in his departure.
Follow our Express Sport page on Instagram here.
