In a recent interview with revered F1 journalist Tom Clarkson for the Beyond the Grid podcast, Haas’ new team principal Ayao Komatsu revealed how he was approached to join the newly-formed side during the 2016 season. At first, the project did not convince the Japanese engineer. As a result, Komatsu wasn’t willing to join them. However, it was former Haas team principal Guenther Steiner that changed Komatsu’s mind.
Speaking of the same, Komatsu told Clarkson, “I didn’t take it too seriously because I’d never seen a new team performing, let’s say in a respectable manner. So, I wasn’t too interested but then I spoke with Guenther [Steiner].”
Ayao Komatsu actually began his F1 career with Lotus/Renault. In 2012, he became Romain Grosjean’s race engineer and remained in that role till the end of the 2014 season when the team promoted him to chief racing engineer. But when Grosjean decided to leave the team for Haas in 2016, Komatsu followed suit, albeit after a bit of convincing from Steiner.
The 48-year-old revealed that after his chat with Steiner, the Italian-American was able to convince him about how different the project really was at Haas. An added impetus for the Japanese engineer was the fact that this would be his first opportunity to embark on a completely new project with a different team.
In the end, while the team’s performances on track have been inconsistent, to say the least, Komatsu’s decision to join them came as a blessing in disguise for him. As things turned out, the man who was responsible for getting him into the team was sacked by Gene Haas at the end of the last season, promoting Komatsu to the role of team principal.
Ayao Komatsu and his rise in F1
Ayao Komatsu gained prominence alongside Guenther Steiner with the help of Netflix’s critically acclaimed docuseries ‘Drive to Survive’. Often seen as Steiner’s right-hand man, Komatsu was a regular feature on the show with his no-nonsense attitude, thereby complementing Steiner’s explosive personality perfectly.
Despite this, Steiner was still effectively running the show, both on and off the cameras at Haas. But the last few seasons saw Haas suffer a massive downfall. Moreover, a reported internal power struggle with Gene Haas and Steiner seemingly resulted in the latter getting the sack at the end of the 2023 season.
Almost simultaneously, Haas announced Komatsu as their latest team principal. 2024 has started off on a promising note for the team as they sit seventh in the Constructors’ Championship with four points to their name.
However, Komatsu isn’t promising a revolution. He understands that the team has a long way to go before they can start making inroads into the tight midfield battle on the grid.
