Formula One boss who became unlikely Netflix star now out of fast lane
Formula One motor racing strugglers Haas have announced the shock departure of team principal and Netflix star Gunther Steiner, with long-serving Japanese engineer Ayao Komatsu promoted as his replacement.
FILE - Guenther Steiner arrives before the sprint shootout ahead of the Formula One U.S. Grand Prix auto race at Circuit of the Americas, Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023, in Austin, Texas. Steiner, the first employee hired by Haas F1 and one of the stars of the Netflix docuseries on Formula One, has not been retained as team principal after a decade with the organization. Gene Haas made the announcement Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024, and said director of engineering Ayo Komatsu, who started with Haas as chief race engineer in its 2016 debut season, will now oversee competition elements of the business as team principal.(AP Photo/Nick Didlick, File)
The US-owned team, who slumped to 10th and last in the 2023 constructors’ standings with only 12 points, said in a statement on Wednesday that the 58-year-old Italian-American had left with immediate effect.
Technical director Simone Resta, who previously worked for engine providers Ferrari, has also left the team.
Steiner became a fan favourite thanks to the Netflix docu-series “Drive to Survive” in which he features prominently with outbursts of swearing and devastatingly frank and unfiltered assessments.
He also released a best-selling book last year entitled “Surviving to Drive, a year inside Formula One.”
The departure of a cult hero – unless he pops up again elsewhere in the paddock -will be a blow for many of those recently attracted to the sport.
“Thanks, Gunther. Thanks for taking me on the journey in 2017 and thanks for bringing me on board again in 2022. It has been both fun and tremendously challenging – but never boring,” said the team’s Danish driver Kevin Magnussen on X.
There was no immediate comment from the ex-boss.
Steiner led Haas into Formula One on their debut in 2016 and ranked as the third longest-standing principal after Red Bull’s Christian Horner and Mercedes’ Toto Wolff.
Team owner Gene Haas ultimately called the shots, however, and made clear that his team’s current performance was not acceptable.
“Moving forward as an organisation it was clear we need to improve our on-track performances,” he said in the statement, thanking Steiner for his work and wishing him well for the future.
“In appointing Ayao Komatsu as team principal we fundamentally have engineering at the heart of our management.”
Komatsu, 47, has also been with the team since the beginning after previous stints at British American Racing (BAR), Renault and Lotus, where he was race engineer for French driver Romain Grosjean.
