Steiner leaves Haas after decade with F1 team

Guenther Steiner has been relieved of his duties as team principal at Haas, having led operations for the last decade.

Italian-born Steiner, 58, has not been issued a new contract by the American team with Ayao Komatsu installed as their new boss for the 2024 Formula 1 season.

Komatsu has been promoted from his previous role as director of engineering.

Steiner had become a popular figure in the sport thanks to his charismatic appearances in Netflix's Drive to Survive series.

A statement from team owner Gene Haas said: "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.

"Moving forward as an organisation 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.

"We have had some successes but we need to be consistent in delivering results that help us reach our wider goals as an organisation.

"I'm looking forward to working with Ayao and fundamentally ensuring that we maximize our potential — this truly reflects my desire to compete properly in Formula 1."

Haas finished bottom of the pile in the 2023 constructors' championship and will be hoping to develop a quicker car ahead of March's opener in Bahrain.

Drivers Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg picked up only 12 points between them in 2023, with Hulkenberg's seventh placed in China their best race finish across the season.

Komatsu added: "I'm naturally very excited to have the opportunity to be team principal at Haas.

"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."