In the early morning of January 11, Beijing time, Haas Racing suddenly announced that the original team leader Guenther Steiner (Guenther Steiner) will leave the team with immediate effect, and the former engineering director, Japanese engineer Ayao Komatsu, will take over as team leader.
Shortly after the announcement of the change of team leader, Magnussen and Hulkenberg, two drivers who will continue to compete for the Haas team in the 2024 season, sent their blessings and gratitude to the "English teacher" on social platforms.
Guenther Steiner
More than just an English teacher:
Steiner's relationship with Haas began with the establishment of USF1, the American F1 team. On February 25, 2009, in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA, the USF1 team, founded by former Williams team manager and current American F1 TV broadcaster Pete Wensel, and Ken Anderson, former F1 team technical director in the 80s, was officially announced, aiming to join the Formula One World Championship in 2010.
At the time, Jean Haas was already a successful NAS truck team owner, and he was favored by the USF1 team, and while Haas did not directly become a sponsor of USF1, his Haas CNC did provide some equipment to the team.
However, due to financial problems, the USF1 team soon fell into trouble, and Steiner, who had just left Red Bull, was invited to come and see if he could save the USF1 team by forming an alliance with another new company. Although Steiner was not able to bring the USF1 team back to life, the experience gave Steiner some ideas, and Jean Haas was also interested in F1, so the gears of fate began to turn because the two men hit it off with USF1.
Described by motorsport magazine Autosport as the "main 'driver' of the Haas team's establishment", Steiner recruited key staff and hired every team member, forming partnerships with outsourcers Dallara and Scuderia Ferrari. On April 14, 2014, Steiner was officially announced as Team Principal of Haas Racing.
Under Steiner's leadership, Team Haas' 2016 rookie season was impressive. Grosjean finished sixth in the opening race, and the team scored eight points at the 2016 Australian Grand Prix, making Haas the first American team to compete in Formula 1 in 30 years. In the end, the season finished in 8th place in the Constructors' Championship with 29 points.
In 2018, the Haas team peaked in fifth place in the standings and fourth fastest in the average speed, but that was short-lived. Since 2019, Haas has been on a downward slope. In 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic hit, Haas was in an unprecedented predicament, Jean Haas was frustrated by the difficulty of raising sponsorships, and his interest in the team gradually waned.
But Haas was also badly injured, and in 2021 he finished the race with 0 points. In 2022, Haas rode the wind and Magnussen even took his first pole position in the sprint race of the São Paulo Grand Prix, but it was also a flashback. Haas is uncompetitive in 2023 and is once again at the bottom of the table. Jean Haas became increasingly reluctant to pay for it, and Haas Racing was reduced to a team that was uncompetitive, had no history, and became less attractive to partners.
Unable to get investment from his owner, Steiner was finally completely disappointed and chose to leave before the start of the 2024 season. You must know that Steiner's high popularity has always been a valuable asset for Haas, many sponsors are because of him, and it can even be said that Haas is actually "Steiner F1 Team" in addition to its name. Now the departure of this "beckoning tree" is undoubtedly worse for Haas, who has a bleak future, and where should Haas go in the post-Steiner period?
Last year, Haas rejected Andretti's offer to buy, forcing Andretti to even want to join Cadillac in building an 11th F1 team. Now with Steiner's departure, Gene Haas may also change his mind, and Andretti seems to be a possibility to become Haas.
Who is Reio Komatsu, who replaced Steiner?
Ayao Komatsu
The story of Reio Komatsu is the quintessential example of an inspirational migrant worker, who joined the Anglo-American team after graduating from Loughborough University in 2003 – the Bracly-based team that was the predecessor of Mercedes. Over the next 20 years, he worked his way up the ladder and eventually became Haas's spokesman.
2003 Tyre Engineer for Anglo-American Racing Team
2006 Performance Engineer, Renault Racing
2011 Race Engineer for Renault Teams
(with Petrov, Grosjan)
2015 Lotus Racing Team Chief Race Engineer
2016 Haas Racing Track Engineer Director
2024 Haas Team Principal
And Komatsu may be able to take office because his philosophy perfectly matches Gene Haas's idea of not investing money. After taking office, Komatsu said that Haas's existing parts just need to be restructured and better led, and that the current team can achieve better results.
"I am very happy to have the opportunity to be the principal of the Haas F1 team. Since the team's F1 debut in 2016, I've been passionate about the team's success in F1. I'm looking forward to leading the team's R&D projects in F1 and the various operational competitions to ensure we can build a team structure that will improve performance on the track." ”
Haas F1 Team
This off-season, Haas has the longest wind tunnel test time in the whole paddock, and if they want to make a breakthrough in the team's overall results, enter the midstream group and compete for points, they must first solve the long-standing problem of tire failure during the winter break, but changing players has always been a taboo, and whether the panicked Haas can successfully regain his life under the leadership of Reyao Komatsu will put a question mark in the hearts of all fans.
Having two experienced "old churros" drivers, Magnussen and Holkenberg, is one of the Haas team's strengths, but in the F1 paddock, a competitive car is clearly more important, whether Haas is a mule or a horse, as we will know in Bahrain testing starting on February 21, 2024.