The Haas Formula 1 squad has confirmed that Guenther Steiner has departed his role as Team Principal ahead of this year's campaign.
Ayao Komatsu has been promoted to the position in his place, stepping up from the Director of Engineering duties.
Steiner has been at the helm of the Haas team since it arrived on the grid as F1's newest team in 2016.
Under his leadership, it reached a high of fifth place in the Constructors' Championship, achieved in 2018.
However, Haas has been confined to the rear end of the pecking order across the last handful of seasons and ended last year's campaign at the bottom of the Constructors' standings.
“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, ” said team owner Gene Haas.
“Moving forward as an organization 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.
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Haas calls for improvements
As it looks to bounce back from a difficult campaign, Haas has backed Komatsu to lift the team from its slump.
“We have had some successes, but we need to be consistent in delivering results that help us reach our wider goals as an organization,” Gene Haas continued.“We need to be efficient with the resources we have but improving our design and engineering capability is key to our success as a team.
“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 enters the 2024 F1 season with an unchanged line-up from last year as it once again field Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg.
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