F1 News: Kevin Magnussen Speaks Out On Haas Atmosphere After Guenther Steiner Exit

Kevin Magnussen discussed the significant changes within the team, highlighting the improved communication facilitated by having an engineer as the team head.

Haas driver Kevin Magnussen revealed that the atmosphere within the team remains positive despite the exit of former team principal Guenther Steiner last month on performance grounds. He was replaced by the team's director of trackside engineering, Ayao Komatsu. 

Key Takeaways:

• Haas driver Kevin Magnussen, noted a positive team atmosphere despite the departure of former team principal Guenther Steiner, replaced by Ayao Komatsu.
• 2024 saw the exit of the well-known team principal, influenced by Haas's last-place position in the 2023 Constructors' Standing.
• Gene Haas sought a technical leader like Komatsu. Magnussen highlighted a positive atmosphere, emphasizing improved communication and unity under new leadership, with optimism for addressing previous issues.

2024 began on a rather serious note in Formula 1 as one of the grid's most well-known team principals, featured prominently in Netflix's 'Drive to Survive' docuseries, declared his departure from Haas. 

Reports indicated that the conclusion of Haas and Steiner's association, which commenced in 2016, was influenced by the team's bottom position in the 2023 Constructors' Standing.

In addition, the team's owner, Gene Haas, emphasized after Steiner's exit that he was keen on having a technical leader like Komatsu. Speaking about the atmosphere and mood within the team after managerial changes, Magnussen told Formula 1.com during the pre-season testing in Bahrain:

“The spirit is very good [in the team].

“I think people like to see a change in the team. I don’t think anyone had anything against Guenther – he was like family to most of us in the team here. But at the end of the day we’re here to compete and to create results, and we haven’t had that progression that we were hoping for.

“As I’ve said before, I think every member of the team is part of that and we’ve all got to step up. I think having an engineer at the helm in a sport that is so technical and, as we know, you need to be able to develop effectively and I think having someone like Ayao, who’s a race engineer, who’s been chief race engineer at our team for eight years at least or since the beginning of Haas, I think that’s going to create a change. It’s going to be different.”

Haas Press Image

One major aspect Magnussen revealed is how team members "feel understood" since they're now talking to an 'engineer' team boss. He added:

“I certainly feel the whole team is very engaged.

“I think it’s been motivating for them to have someone leading the team who they can go and talk to and feel understood. They’re taking to an engineer with recent experience of chief race engineering, so I think that creates a different dynamic in the team.

“Everyone’s kind of talking more to each other and I think [it’s] more united in a way so far. Let’s see how it pans out. I think it’s been a very positive atmosphere so far.”

Though Haas's 2024 car, the VF-24, may not be a significant leap from its predecessor, the VF-23, Magnussen suggests that the new car reflects "positive signs" after the team addressed problems from the previous year. He added:

“I’m not sure how fast we are on outright pace.

“I’d be surprised if we see any big surprises, if we are in a much different position to last year. I think we are in a slightly better position on tyres, but still it’s very hard to conclude that from just running in one set of conditions on one track.

“For now, at least it’s some positive signs that we’ve made progress on the issues that we had last year, but [we’re] not really thinking that we are in a much different position pace-wise. But then again, last year sometimes we were able to be in Q3 and have some good qualifyings, so that’s not really what we were trying to improve, it’s more the Sunday [performance].”

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