The departure of Guenther Steiner as team principal of Haas has been the talk of the F1 town all along. If you didn’t know any better, this news would come to you as an absolute shock. After all, he was literally the face of the team. However, if you’re in the know of what has been going on at Haas, Guenther’s exit from the team made more sense. And while it’s true that he had become this celebrity figure in F1, thanks to Netflix’s ‘Drive To Survive,’ the team has been struggling for quite some time now. Ex-Ferrari boss, Peter Windsor has also supported the decision made by Gene Haas to change the team’s leadership.

Guenther Steiner’s rise in popularity due to his portrayal in the Netflix show has helped him gain a big fan base. And those fans are not happy to see Steiner walking away from Haas. However, according to the Windsor, the owner of the team couldn’t care less about Guenther’s popularity and what he does outside of F1. If the team is not able to deliver results, how long can you expect the owner to just sit and hope for things to turn around?

Peter Windsor ‘likes the way’ Gene Haas is thinking, right after Guenther Steiner’s departure news surfaces

The relationship between Gene Haas and Guenther Steiner has been strained for some time now. It comes down to the difference between their vision for the team. Steiner believed that the team needed steady investment in the coming years to grow. On the other hand, Gene Haas believed that the team had enough resources to have done a better job than they did in the last few years, suggesting the team had underperformed massively.

This is reflected in the team’s official announcement in which Haas clearly stated that the goal is to maximize the team’s potential and be more efficient. Peter Windsor clearly understands Gene’s motives for not renewing Steiner’s contract which ended with the 2023 season, despite the sentiment of the fans. Speaking on his usual Live chat where he takes up questions from his viewers, Windsor said, “I’ve got to say, full marks to Gene Haas because there’s so much chatter out there about how Guenther Steiner was the main player of the Netflix thing and how could they do this. Now Netflix… the whole show is going to be dull.”

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“Who cares?“ he added. “The reality is if you’re Gene Haas, you don’t care about that stuff. All you want is your cars to be reliable and to be quick and to finish races. And I’m not here because I don’t know enough behind the scenes of what went on there… because for all we know he was probably possibly doing a great job and the team will be worse off for it”.

Windsor continued, “But if Gene Haas thinks that putting performance before worrying about PR and Netflix, I think that’s great and I think that shows he’s a racer and I applaud him for that. Again, I’m not saying that I think he’s made the right or the wrong decision. But I like the way he’s thinking about performance before all that other stuff.”

Not seeing Guenther Steiner at the Haas pit wall in 2024 will undoubtedly be odd. Nonetheless, it’s crucial to take a closer look at the man replacing him.

What do we know about Ayao Komatsu?

Ayao Komatsu has replaced Guenther Steiner as team principal at Haas. However, Komatsu is not a new face. He previously served as the Director of Engineering at Haas. The decision to appoint Komatsu underscores the team’s commitment to placing engineering at the core of its management structure. The goal is to enhance design and engineering capabilities, aiming for sustained success in Formula 1.

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At 47 years old, Komatsu brings a ton of experience to his role as the team principal. Having started his motorsport career in 2003 as a tire engineer for British American Racing, he later moved to Renault in 2006, where he took on different roles, including performance engineer and race engineer. Komatsu reflected on the team’s struggles in recent times and the frustration that came along with that.

“We are a performance-based business. We obviously haven’t been competitive enough recently which has been a source of frustration for us all. We have amazing support from Gene and our various partners, and we want to mirror their enthusiasm with an improved on-track product,” Motorsport quoted Komatsu.

Do you think Guenther Steiner was right to think the team needed steady investment? Or was Gene Haas right about the team having underperformed? Share your insights down below in the comments.

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