Controversial figure, but popular thanks to the Drive to Survive series, Günther Steiner has ceased his role as team principal of Haas in Formula 1. The Gene Haas team has decided to separate ‘with immediate effect’ from the Italian, replacing him with Ayao Komatsu.
Since Haas arrived in the premier category in 2016, Steiner had been their team principal – in fact, he was the first person hired for the project. With extensive experience, including stints at Jaguar and Red Bull, he started well with Haas achieving their highest point with a fifth-place finish in the Constructors’ Championship in 2018.
However, since then the results have been very modest and last year they finished last for the second time in three seasons. In parallel, Steiner gained notoriety for his peculiar and outspoken character shown in the Netflix series, Drive to Survive. In addition, he was involved in some controversies and there were rumors last year about a collision course with Gene Haas – which was never confirmed.
Either way, Haas has decided not to continue with Steiner. He is replaced by Komatsu, a 47-year-old engineer who started his career with BAR before moving to Renault. In 2016, he joined Haas as the chief race engineer and was currently the director of engineering. In addition to Komatsu, there will also be a new director of operations for Europe to oversee activities at the Banbury facilities (United Kingdom).
