Haas team boss Ayao Komatsu is said to have banned chocolate in the Formula 1 paddock: a bizarre media history that the Japanese decidedly rejects!
Subscribers to the “BusinessF1” industry magazine were amazed when they took the July edition of the high-gloss magazine at hand according to Silverstone. Because on page 9 there was a story that was perceived by many readers as unusual – if not as a bizarre. Headline: “Komatsu banished chocolate from Haas-MotorHome”.
The core of the story goes like this: Komatsu is intended to classify chocolate consumption due to the high fat and sugar content as a serious health risk for its employees. So he is said to have arranged internal team that his employees can no longer be consumed by his employees.
He is said to have already banned chocolate from the Haas motor home, from the box and from the hotel rooms that are booked for the team. “An apparently disciplinary consequences found that found among employees.
A story that Komatsu is now in Belgium (a country that ironically is famous for its chocolate tradition) has a sharp reigning: “This is crazy, right? I have no idea where it comes from.” While a press spokeswoman for the team points out that the “BusinessF1” story does not cite any sources, but only makes claims.
But it gets even bizarre. According to “BusinessF1”, anonymous “insiders” had reported that the chocolate ban will be lifted again after several ranking team members Komatsu unofficially pointed out that he could threaten labor law consequences because of the ban on British courts “.
Haas team boss: This is “crazy”
On top of that, Komatsu may also be able to get a sponsorship contract for the Kitkat brand with Formula 1 right-wing holder Liberty Media and the food company Nestle, who have recently concluded a sponsorship contract. Kitkat has been the “official chocolate bar in Formula 1” since June 2025.
A story that stamps Komatsu as “just crazy”. He makes it clear: “Usually you always say there is no smoke without a fire. But there is really nothing here. I feel like someone was just bored and had to come up with some bullshit story, and then they did it. It’s really crazy.”
But even the most bizarre stories usually stick to something. The fact that Komatsu was asked by three team bosses at the first meeting of the Formula 1 Commission after the publication of the issue of the issue of whether he had no other worries than that at first he did not want to admit that someone could believe such an absurd story at all.
Anyway: of course there is still no chocolate ban on Haas. In Spa, the press spokeswoman even pointed out with a wink that “branded M&MS for free removal” is offered on the lower floor of the hospitality.
Incidentally, it is not the first “chocolate” in Formula 1 history: McLaren had already caused a stir in the media in 2017, when the media, the then team boss Eric Boullier had prompted to reward employees with freddo chocolate, one in the UK popular but affordable chocolate figure in frog shape.
The team, which was then a sporty, and was under fire, took the matter with humor and started to actually distribute Freddos in the paddock, including self-ironic social media posts. By the way, whether Ayao Komatsu was also offered a chocolate frog by McLaren is evaded by our knowledge …