F1 News: Ayao Komatsu Outlines Haas Weakness After Guenther Steiner Exit - "Not Where My Skillset Is"

The new Haas team principal is purely technical.

The recently appointed Haas team principal, Ayao Komatsu, underscored his intention not to lead the team in the style of ex-team boss Guenther Steiner. With a background rooted in technical aspects, the Japanese team boss disclosed that he has a surplus of ideas to elevate the team from its last place in the Constructors' Standings.

Following Steiner's departure, Komatsu was elevated from the position of trackside director of engineering to the role of team principal. In the upcoming 2024 season, he will guide the American team with a distinctly different approach compared to Steiner.

Haas Press Image

Speaking for the first time since his promotion, he told Formula1.com:

“Of course, I’m not trying to be Guenther Steiner!

“He’s a very different person.

“We got on, honestly, really, really well. We respect each other, we respect each other’s positions and job roles during work and off work as well.

“We used to go to dinner quite a lot as well over a race weekend – again, not to talk about work but because we got on pretty well. But I’m not here to replace Guenther Steiner as a character.”

As someone with a technical background, Komatsu mentioned that he had prior discussions with the team owner, Gene Haas. He communicated that his expertise lies in a different domain and, as a result, he lacks proficiency in the marketing aspects of the team. He added:

“When I was given this opportunity I just made it clear to Gene: ‘You know my expertise, there’s no point in me trying to focus on the marketing side and trying to get sponsorship because that’s not where my skillset is’.

“In that field I need someone else who is an expert in that area to run it, then I can focus on the technical side, trying to get an organisation that we can improve the technical side of the team.

“So yeah, it’s a very different responsibility, but at the same time, any job I’ve done – so I used to be in the vehicle dynamics, performance engineer, race engineer, chief race engineer – when you do your current job you always try your best in the job you are doing but you also look at ‘OK, what are the other constraints? If certain things are improved, how can I do a better job?’.

“You always think about that, so even when I was doing the previous job, of course this team means a lot to me because I was here since day one.

“I know what potential this team has got, so in certain areas I can see ‘Oh maybe you can look at doing things in a different way’ etc. So in that sense, we’re not short of ideas, if you like, so there’s plenty of areas that we can take a look to improve the team.”