F1 News: Former Alpine Team Principal Named For Big Role At Haas After Guenther Steiner Exit

An experienced team boss's contribution would play a crucial role in areas that require non-technical expertise.

After the ousting of former Haas team principal Guenther Steiner, trackside engineering director Ayao Komatsu was promoted to the team boss role for his technical prowess. However, the team now looks for somebody with significant expertise on the non-technical side of things, for which, former Alpine team boss Otmar Szafnauer's name has been proposed. 

Key Takeaways:

• Ayao Komatsu, previously the trackside engineering director at Haas, was promoted to the team boss role after the departure of Guenther Steiner, chosen for his technical expertise.
• Haas is now seeking a Chief Operating Officer (COO) with proficiency in non-technical aspects, such as administration and human resources. Otmar Szafnauer, the former Alpine team boss, has been proposed for this role.
• Ralf Schumacher supports Szafnauer for the COO position, citing his Formula 1 experience, expertise in overseeing young teams, and the fact that he is currently unaffiliated with any team after leaving Alpine in a restructuring process.

Ralf Schumacher believes that Szafnauer is well-suited for the Chief Operating Officer (COO) role at Haas. This is due to his expertise in overseeing young Formula 1 teams and the fact that he is currently not associated with any team on the grid following his departure last year due to a restructuring process at Alpine.

Haas F1 Press Image

After Steiner's departure, team owner Gene Haas indicated his preference for the team principal role to be more technically oriented, a criteria met by Komatsu. However, the team is currently in search of a Chief Operating Officer (COO) to manage non-technical operations such as administration and human resources.

Speaking to Formel1.de, Schumacher proposed Szafnauer for the big role at Haas. He said:

"Otmar is someone who is well-known in Formula 1 and who also has expertise.

"One thing is technical expertise, but the other thing is to go out and look for good minds, sometimes at universities. Having this foresight and generating new people to take the team forward is a skill that I trust Otmar to have.

"I can't imagine Mattia Binotto doing that. He's also more associated with Audi, but I don't quite see how that fits in with Andreas Seidl [CEO of Sauber Motorsport]. I'm curious about that."