"I'm never going to try and replicate Guenther Steiner": Haas team principal sets the record straight on his approach with the team
Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu recently stated that he would not try to replicate his predecessor Guenther Steiner as the team leader in the 2024 season.
The Japanese was appointed as the replacement for Steiner by team boss Gene Haas after he let the latter go owing to poor results in the recent seasons. Komatsu, who was the trackside engineering director under Guenther Steiner's helm, was quick to distinguish himself from the straight talking Italian-American.
Speaking to Sky Sports, the new Haas team boss acknowledged the 'unique' personality of Steiner and claimed that he would not try to copy him while shedding light on their relationship. He said:
“I am never going to try and replicate Guenther Steiner. Guenther is a very unique human being and I had a very, very good working relationship, and outside of work, we got on really well together.
He added:
“Guenther has done a lot for this team. He set the team up to start off with, so I have a huge respect for Guenther and what he has achieved. So I try to improve on what he has left here.”
Haas team boss lays down the expectations for the 2024 season
Ayao Komatsu stated that the 2024 season will be a 'transitional' one for the team as the team tries to learn from the year to improve in the future.
The Haas team boss said (via F1.com):
“Whatever we learn across the course of the year in 2024, I’m sure that will help us very clearly define what we’re doing in five years’ time, eight years’ time, 10 years’ time."
Komatsu also spoke about the fiery nature of the team and claimed that disagreements within the organization were par for the course, saying:
“Of course, disagreement happens everywhere. That's healthy. That's not a problem. But then just to move forward everybody needs to know, ‘OK. X said this, A said this, I disagree, but we dealt with all the disagreement, as a team we decided to move in this direction."
He added:
“I think that's important, rather than people don't know why we're going in that direction. ‘This doesn't seem to work, but we still keep going on. Why?’ So that's not healthy, I don't think. So, again, that comes from communication.”
It will be fascinating to see if Komatsu can bring a sense of calm to the American team who have been pretty erratic on and off the track in the past couple of years in terms of their results and financial status.