Drive to Survive, funny interviews, and a whole lot of ‘f*k smash doors’ — that’s what Guenther Steiner’s time as Haas Team Principal is mostly remembered as. On the track, however, there were glaring issues that limited the team’s growth, and it prompted the ownership to bring in Ayao Komatsu as his replacement.
In just over a year, Komatsu has changed several things around at Haas and has instilled a sense of hope. Some of these changes were fairly basic, leaving him puzzled as to why they hadn’t been addressed earlier. For instance, communication was one.
Even Nelson Piquet Jr. — host of the Pelas Pistas podcast, where Komatsu recently spoke about this — highlighted how simple it is. Komatsu agreed but insisted that before he got in charge, there was no communication internally.
“I have huge respect for Guenther and what he’s achieved” ⭐
Ayao Komatsu on former Haas team principal Guenther Steiner pic.twitter.com/yUAoCp7rpc
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) January 17, 2024
“There’s the objective, ‘Oh we wanna be in the midfield’, but there’s no strategy,” he said. “Also, the communication in terms of what we are doing as a team.” Komatsu stated how members of the Kannapolis-based outfit lacked a sense of direction. Even when they finished in the lower positions, they had no idea whether they should be content with it or not.
“So people were like, what are we doing here, you know? It’s simple, I know it sounds stupid,” he added. After expressing his concerns about the lack of communication within the team, Komatsu addressed an excuse that was often given for their below-par performances.
Location cannot be a bottleneck, says Komatsu
Haas, an American team, has its base in Banbury but a huge part of their design team works out of Italy to be close to Ferrari, who provide them with power units. Under Steiner‘s leadership, the communication between those in the UK and Italy was not good, another point Komatsu stressed upon.
“I started talking to the people in Italy, and I said, okay the current location is not ideal, but it’s not the bottleneck. The bottleneck is the communication, making sure all the information from the trackside, the technical director, the head of design, the head of aero, goes there…,” the Japanese engineer added.
Having addressed this issue, Komatsu faces another significant challenge heading into 2025 — managing an entirely new driver lineup. As the team aims to leave the Steiner era behind and make strides up the midfield, Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman have been selected to lead the project.
Communication with two new drivers has to be top-notch, but it’s something Komatsu prioritizes, which makes it almost certain that it won’t be a big issue. And while making big inroads in such a short amount of time may prove to be difficult, Komatsu has certainly improved on-track results for Haas as well.
After finishing last with just 12 points in 2023 — Steiner’s final season in charge —, Komatsu took the team to P7 with 58 points last year. However, Komatsu is far from satisfied, viewing this as just the beginning of their journey.
