The Haas Formula 1 team announced this week (10 January) the shock departure of team principal Guenther Steiner, with Ayao Komatsu as his replacement.
It came after Haas finished bottom of the 2023 F1 constructors’ championship, which was its second last-place finish in three years.
Such form has led to Steiner losing his job, a role the Italian had held since the American outfit joined F1 in 2016.
So, with Komatsu now leading the squad into 2024 and beyond, who is the new Haas team principal and how did he end up in the role?
Who is Ayao Komatsu?
Komatsu is the new Haas team principal, having replaced Steiner for the 2024 F1 season. The 47-year-old was born in Tokyo but aged 19 he left Japan for the United Kingdom to study Automotive Engineering at Loughborough University. Komatsu later obtained a PhD from Loughborough and has stayed in the UK ever since to work various roles in F1.
Why has he become Haas F1 Team Principal?
Komatsu became the Haas F1 team principal after Steiner’s contract came to an end. However, friction had emerged between Steiner and team owner Gene Haas following disagreements over how to take the team forward.
Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
Ayao Komatsu, Chief Engineer, Haas F1
Steiner was effectively asking for more investment to match rival budgets, yet Gene Haas was keen for more efficient use of its resources having claimed he’s “embarrassed” that the team has not made the most of its partnership with Ferrari.
Haas has come in the bottom three of the F1 standings every year since its best finish of fifth in 2018, which included a point-less season in 2021. Although things initially improved at the start of 2022, kickstarting the ground-effect era with points in three of the opening four grands prix, Haas was back to bottom of the standings in 2023 with just four-point finishes.
So, Gene Haas felt the team needed something different and the job was offered to Komatsu because “Ayao has been with the team since day one, he knows the ins and outs of it”.
How long has he been at Haas?
Komatsu joined Haas F1 for its debut season in 2016 as the team’s trackside engineering director, which is a role he held every year until becoming team boss for 2024.
He began his motorsport career in 2003 as a tyre engineer for British American Racing before moving to Renault in 2006. Komatsu started as a performance engineer at Renault and by 2011 he was…
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