It’s the first bang in the Formula 1 year 2024: Günther Steiner is no longer team boss at Haas. What’s behind the odd South Tyrolean’s departure from the US team? And what does the change in the executive chair mean for Nico Hülkenberg? sport.de gives the background.
Since entering Formula 1 in 2016, Günther Steiner has led the Haas team – and in his own way. This era is now over. In the end it just didn’t work anymore. Between Steiner and racing team owner Gene Haas. Between Steiner and the team’s technical department.
“Both sides, both Gene Haas and Günther Steiner, have come to the conclusion that it is better to separate now and make a new start,” reports RTL reporter Felix Görner. The decisive factor was of course the disappointing performance in the previous season. Haas finished last in the constructors’ championship with just twelve points from 22 races.
“Günther Steiner also no longer agreed with a lot of things and was satisfied with what was happening in the team, as far as the engineering side was concerned, who was responsible for the errors in the disappointing B version, which didn’t achieve anything,” says Görner, summing up the Haas quake a.
Last season, Haas presented a comprehensive upgrade, a B specification, of its racing car for the US GP – without the hoped-for effect. Haas also drove behind in the converted car, Nico Hülkenberg was sometimes even faster in the old car.
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Ayao Komatsu, the US team’s previous chief engineer, will now take over Steiner’s position. The Japanese has also been part of the racing team since 2016, and according to Gene Haas, “technology is becoming the focus of our management”.
Görner sees this as “perhaps a new direction” in Formula 1. “We also saw it at McLaren with Andrea Stella, and at Williams with James Vowles: very technically experienced people are now coming into the very first row. We are also seeing that now Haas. The technical know-how takes precedence over the communicative know-how, so compromises are made. Because Komatsu certainly doesn’t have the communicative skills that Günther Steiner has.”
As the bottom of the table, Haas “hit the ground running,” emphasizes the long-time F1 reporter from RTL. “You will definitely go into the season with very low expectations and will be very cautious. They were too optimistic last year and that fell on their feet.”
For Nico Hülkenberg, the change in the team boss chair has no negative effects, says Görner. “Hülkenberg is good with Komatsu. But of course people are measured by their performance. And Komatsu now has to find its way into its role,