Haas will begin the 2024 Formula 1 season with a new man at the helm following the departure of Team Principal Guenther Steiner.
Ayao Komatsu is promoted from the Director of Engineering to replace the departing Italian, having been with the team since 2016 as a Chief Race Engineer.
The surprise departure of Steiner comes following ten years at the helm and off the back of a difficult 2023 campaign that saw the team score only 12 points and finish last in the World Constructors’ Championship.
The now-58-year-old, who had spent time at Jaguar and Red Bull, went about founding a US team in Formula 1 in 2014, securing a partnership with Gene Haas and securing backing for their debut in 2016.
Since then, the team have found mixed form, achieving a best result of fifth in 2018 and not finishing higher than eighth since.
Steiner rose to fame through the popular Formula 1 series ‘Drive to Survive’ on Netflix, making him a celebrity far beyond the sport.
“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,” commented Gene Haas, Team Owner at MoneyGram Haas F1 Team.
“Moving forward as an organization, 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.”
“We have had some successes, but we need to be consistent in delivering results that help us reach our wider goals as an organization. We need to be efficient with the resources we have, but improving our design and engineering capability is key to our success as a team.
“I’m looking forward to working with Ayao and fundamentally ensuring that we maximize our potential – this truly reflects my desire to compete properly in Formula 1.”
Komatsu has over 20 years of experience in Formula 1, commencing his career at British American Racing before a long tenure at Renault. His new role sees him overseeing all competition elements of the team.
“I’m naturally very excited to have the opportunity to be Team Principal at MoneyGram Haas F1 Team,” he said.
“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 internally to ensure we can build a structure that produces improved on-track performances.
“We are a performance-based business,” he continued. “We obviously haven’t been competitive enough recently, which has been a source of frustration for us all.
“We have amazing support from Gene and our various partners, and we want to mirror their enthusiasm with an improved on-track product. We have a great team of people across Kannapolis, Banbury and Maranello, and together, I know we can achieve the kind of results we’re capable of.”
Pre-season testing for the 2024 Formula 1 World Championship begins on February 21 in Bahrain, with the season starting one week later at the same venue.
