MoneyGram Haas F1 Team has appointed Ayao Komatsu as its new Team Principal, with Guenther Steiner departing the organization with immediate effect, having led its operations for the past decade. Komatsu, promoted from his role as Director of Engineering, has been with the team since its debut season in 2016 – starting as Chief Race Engineer.
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With over 20 years of Formula 1 experience in engineering and management, the 47-year-old Japanese engineering graduate commenced his career in motorsport at British American Racing before a long tenure at Renault. Komatsu will now oversee all competition elements of the business as Team Principal.
Komatsu will take responsibility for the team’s overall strategy and ultimately on-track performance, with a brief to maximize the team’s potential through employee empowerment, structural process, and efficiency.
To further strengthen team operations off-track and in support of Komatsu’s performance-led focus as Team Principal, a European-based Chief Operating Officer will be appointed to manage all non-competition matters and departments; the role is expected to be based at MoneyGram Haas F1 Team’s Banbury facility.
Gene Haas, Team Owner at MoneyGram Haas F1 Team, commented:
“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 organization, we clearly need to improve our on-track performances. In appointing Ayao Komatsu as Team Principal, we fundamentally have engineering at the heart of our management.
We have had some successes, but we must consistently deliver results that help us reach our broader goals as an organization. We need to be efficient with our resources, but improving our design and engineering capability is vital to our success as a team. I’m looking forward to working with Ayao and maximizing our potential – this reflects my desire to compete properly in Formula 1.
Ayao Komatsu, newly-appointed Team Principal of the MoneyGram Haas F1 Team, stated:
I’m naturally very excited to have the opportunity to be Team Principal at MoneyGram Haas F1 Team. Having been with the team since its track debut back in 2016, I’m obviously passionately invested in its success in Formula 1. I’m looking forward to leading our program and the various competitive operations…
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