After Ayao Komatsu’s Appointment, Haas Releases Ad for Another Post Left Vacant by Guenther Steiner

Guenther Steiner had the most unexpected end to his Haas journey after Gene Haas decided to sack the veteran leader recently. Following the move, Haas immediately promoted Ayao Komatsu to the role of the team principal ahead of the 2024 F1 season. However, that was not all as the American team now needs one more personnel to fulfill the gap left by Steiner.

The Kannapolis-based team recently released an advertisement based on their requirement for the second personnel. The role of the job is primarily to be the right-hand man to Komatsu in day-to-day operations. In other words, Haas needs a Chief Operating Officer to look over the management of the team.

Haas is one of those teams that has multiple bases across continents. They have a base in Banbury, United Kingdom, and along with this, they also have two design offices in Maranello and Dallara. That is not it as they also have a presence in Charlotte, United States. Steiner alone managed all these locations when he was team principal.

As Haas parted ways with their former boss, they now need someone with ample experience in the executive role to take charge of other facilities while Komatsu is in charge of the main base and the team. Therefore, they put out an advertisement for the new role. As per SpeedCafe, the advertisement reads,

“MoneyGram Haas F1 Team is a growing company, and we need someone to be the right-hand person to our Team Principal. We’re searching for a Chief Operating Officer (COO) who has strong leadership skills and the ability to help steer the business to achieve its strategic goals. This position will be based in Banbury, UK. The COO will lead our team of high-performing professionals to be efficient, productive, and effective.

Why did Haas sack Guenther Steiner?

The Guenther Steiner saga began shortly after the Haas F1 team removed the Italian-American’s name from their official website. Within hours, the announcement came that Gene Haas decided to sack the team principal and put Ayao Komatsu in charge for 2024 and beyond.

According to reports, the sudden move arrived after the American team performed miserably in the 2023 season despite having two brilliant drivers in their ranks. Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen boast huge experience in F1 but failed to show that on track as Haas finished the season in P10 with just 12 points.

This was a drastic dip for Gene Haas’ team from their 2022 performance. In 2022, the American team performed fairly better as they ended their season in P8 with 37 points. Therefore, the huge drop in terms of performance is what many believe to be the reason for Komatsu’s arrival.

However, Komatsu is not expected to have it easy at Haas in his first season. Firstly, the upcoming 2024 F1 challenger does not have any mega upgrades coming, and secondly, the Japanese engineer has already lowered the expectations from the team after revealing the state of Haas.

Since just over a month remains before the new Formula 1 season begins, Komatsu’s appointment as the top boss is not expected to bring about a big change in terms of performance. Therefore, Gene Haas’ expectations from his side should also be at a minimum.

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• Ayao Komatsu
• Gene Haas
• Guenther Steiner
• Haas