Steiner's heir
January 10, 2024 will be remembered as the day of the revolution at Haas. For the first time in its still short history in Formula 1, the American team has changed team principal. Gunther Steiner, who has become one of the iconic characters of the Circus in recent years – his popularity among fans of the Netflix TV series Drive to Survive is enormous – and Ayao Komatsu, a Japanese woman aged almost 48, leaves the scene ( will celebrate his birthday on January 28th) who has worked in the team since the team's debut in 2016.
BAR and Renault in his past
But who is this Japanese engineer who studied in England at Loughborough University before arriving in Formula 1? Of course, this is not a newbie. In fact, Komatsu's experience in the Circus now dates back twenty years. In fact, the '76 classmate made his debut in the paddock in 2003 as a tire engineer for the then British American Racing. He completed two seasons at what was then the Brackley team before moving to Renault.
Komatsu spent ten years in the Enstone team, now Alpine, climbing the ranks one step at a time. Having entered the Losanga banner as a performance engineer, he became track engineer for the Russian Vitaly Petrov in 2011, before being joined the following season by the Frenchman Romain Grosjean, with whom a close relationship was created which then led the two to work together also in Haas.
Haas since 2016
In 2016, upon his move to the newly formed American team, the Japanese was appointed chief race engineer and in recent seasons he became Gunther Steiner's right-hand man, occupying the position of Director of Engineering. Now the further promotion to team principal, which comes at a very delicate moment in the history of Haas. Already avoiding a new last place in the standings at the end of the 2024 season could be considered a good result, given the complex situation in which this new adventure begins.
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