Guenther Steiner Leaves Haas F1 Team Effective Immediately
U.S. F1 team Haas has replaced its team principal six weeks before the start of the new season.
Haas announced Wednesday that Guenther Steiner has resigned as team principal. He was replaced by Ayao Komatsu, formerly the team's engineering director.
Steiner has led Haas since the inaugural season in 2016, but has failed to achieve much success. Powered by Ferrari power units and founded by Gene Haas, co-owner of NASCAR's Stewart-Haas Racing, the team has failed to finish on the podium once and has finished last in two of the past three seasons.
Komatsu had over 20 years of experience in Formula One, including with British American Racing and Renault, before joining Haas in 2016.
He will primarily be responsible for the team's on-track performance. To focus on non-combat areas such as administration, finance, and marketing, Haas plans to create a new chief operating officer.
Komatsu is not the only new team representative for the 2024 season. Last year, Red Bull's feeder team, Alfatauri, named Laurent Mekies to replace retiring veteran Franz Tost.
Teams will begin unveiling their 2024 cars in the coming weeks. Pre-season testing will take place at the Bahrain International Circuit from February 21-23, and the first race of the new season, the Bahrain Grand Prix, will be held there on March 2.
