Confirmed: Guenther Steiner has left Haas F1 team

Guenther Steiner is no longer the team boss of the Haas F1 team. Following speculation earlier today, the team has come out with a press release confirming this. The role of Team Princple will be taken over by Ayao Komatsu

Ayao Komatsu has already been Director of Engineering at the team since 2016, so now he becomes the team boss with the official title of Chief Race Engineer. Ayao Komatsu is 47 and has more than 20 years of experience in Formula 1. The Japanese will take responsibility over strategy and on-track performance.

Gene Haas reacts to Steiner's farewell in the press release: ''I’d like to start by extending my thanks to Guenther Steiner for all his hard work over the past decade and I wish him well for the future,” commented Gene Haas, Team Owner at MoneyGram Haas F1 Team. “Moving forward as an organization it was clear we need to improve our on-track performances. In appointing Ayao Komatsu as Team Principal we fundamentally have engineering at the heart of our management''

New team boss Komatsu comments on his appointment: ''I’m naturally very excited to have the opportunity to be Team Principal at MoneyGram Haas F1 Team. 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.”