Formula 1 driver Nico Hülkenberg surprisingly gets a new team boss at the Haas racing team. The US team parted ways with Günther Steiner on Wednesday after ten years and promoted Ayao Komatsu as his successor. Steiner’s contract expired at the end of 2023 and was not extended.
The Japanese Komatsu was previously the team’s top engineer and is now “in charge of maximizing the team’s potential by promoting employees as well as structural processes and efficiency,” as it said in a statement.
“I am very excited about the opportunity to become team principal,” said Ayao Komatsu. “I have been with the team since its racetrack debut in 2016 and am naturally passionate about its success in Formula 1.”
Outbursts of anger and criticism of Schumacher
The Rhinelander Hülkenberg and his teammate Kevin Magnussen from Denmark only scored twelve points together in the 2023 season, which meant last place for Haas in the constructors’ championship.
“It was clear that we as an organization needed to improve our performance on the track,” said team owner Gene Haas: “We had some success, but we need to consistently deliver results.” Ultimately, the goal is “to really keep up with Formula 1.”
The new one: Ayao Komatsu : Image: picture alliance / DPPI media
“We are a performance-oriented company,” said new race director Komatsu. “Obviously we haven’t been competitive enough recently, which has been a source of frustration for all of us,” said the Japanese. “I know that together we can achieve the results we are capable of.”
His predecessor Steiner had been team boss at Haas since 2014, and the Netflix series “Drive to Survive” and occasional outbursts of anger made him known to a wider audience. When Mick Schumacher drove for Haas in 2021 and 2022, the Italian repeatedly attracted attention with sometimes great criticism of the son of record world champion Michael Schumacher.
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Formula 1 starts the new season on March 2nd with the Bahrain Grand Prix, followed by test drives from February 21st to 23rd.
