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Guenther Steiner has left the Haas F1 team, making space for their Director of Engineering, Ayao Komatsu, to replace him. Here is all you need to know about Komatsu's long journey in the sport.
Ayao Komatsu is a Japanese engineer who joined Haas in 2016, when they made their F1 debut. But his entry in F1 dates back to 2003 when he joined BAR after graduating from Loughborough University as an engineer. He also completed his PhD in Vehicle Dynamics and Control before joining F1.
He was a tire engineer at BAR and spent two years with the team before moving to Renault in 2006 to work as a performance engineer. The 47-year-old was with the team for a complete decade in various roles, also serving as a race engineer for Romain Grosjean and Vitaly Petrov. Post this, he was promoted to chief race engineer.
Ultimately, Haas debuted in F1 in the 2016 season and Romain Grosjean was set to drive for them alongside Esteban Gutierrez. The latter was replaced by Kevin Magnussen in the following season.
Ayao Komatsu also found his way to the American outfit as their chief race engineer. From there, he was promoted to the Director of Engineering.
Having spent so much time with the team and around their former team principal Guenther Steiner, Komatsu seems to be the perfect choice to be signed as the new team principal.
Ayao Komatsu hoping for Haas' better performance ahead of a challenge-filled season
Guenther Steiner is not the only one to have left the team. Haas' technical director, Simone Resta also departed on the same day. Given the team's performance in the 2023 season, which dropped them back to the bottom of the championship, Haas could be looking to face another tough year.
In his statement as a team principal, however, Ayao Komatsu ensured the creation of a structure within the team that would assist in delivering competitive performances in races.
"I’m naturally very excited to have the opportunity to be Team Principal at Haas," F1 quoted him.
"Having been with the team since its track debut back in 2016, I’m obviously passionately invested in its success in Formula 1. I’m looking forward to leading our program and the various competitive operations internally to ensure we can build a structure that produces improved on-track performances."
It could be quite a challenge for Komatsu as a newly appointed team principal ahead of the 2024 F1 season. Having spent so much time with the team, however, he isn't new to any of the issues that they might face.
The 2024 season is essential for Haas in multiple ways. Not only was their performance in the past season far below expectations, but they could potentially lose one of their drivers.
It was earlier reported that Nico Hulkenberg could be making his way to Sauber in the 2025 season because the team would be taken over by the German manufacturer Audi in 2026.
While these are complete speculations, it does add a completely different amount of load on the team. Nonetheless, Ayao Komatsu is headed on to a new path in his F1 journey.
