Guenther Steiner Out at Haas, The News and Our Thoughts
After 10 years at Haas, Guenther Steiner is out as team principal.
The News:
Guenther Steiner is out as team principal at Haas F1 Team after an announcement was made by the team on Wednesday. Steiner has been with the team since its inception in 2014 and then began racing in the series in 2016.
Gene Haas, owner of the team, thanked Guenther for his time with the team, however he made it clear that the team was not performing up to standard in recent years saying “Moving forward as an organization it was clear we need to improve our on-track performances.”
Steiner was not fired by Haas, as his contract had expired after his 10 years with the American team, who elected not to renew that contract going forward.
Gene has elected to promote long-time Director of Engineering, Ayao Komatsu, to the position of team principal as he believes Komatsu’s background will help the team's performance going forward. Haas said about the promotion “In appointing Ayao Komatsu as Team Principal we fundamentally have engineering at the heart of our management.”
Our Thoughts:
It is sad to see Guenther leave the team as he always brought entertainment to the sport and to a team that does not have much going for it otherwise. It does make sense on a performance level, however, to part ways with Steiner as the team has seen a significant lack of competitiveness in the last few seasons.
I am not sure that promoting in house is a great way to increase your level of performance though, as Komatsu has been a part of contributing to the team's lack of success. I think a better way forward for Haas would have been to attempt bringing in someone at an organization like Red Bull or Mercedes. Williams has attempted something similar to this by bringing in former Mercedes strategy director James Vowles last season. This has worked out extremely well for Williams as they jumped from 10th to 7th in Vowles’ first year with the team.
Having finished 10th in the constructors championship in two of the last three seasons, do you think parting ways with Guenther was a good or bad move for Haas?