Ayao Komatsu has opened up about the problematic team culture at Haas before he took over as team principal, the steps he took immediately after assuming the new position in 2024, the massive communication gap that existed between their multiple bases under Guenther Steiner, and what ultimately prevented him from quitting during the disappointing 2023 F1 season.
The erstwhile director of engineering, Komatsu, had replaced Steiner as team principal of Haas in January 2024. The shock news arrived in the aftermath of a dreadful 2023 campaign that saw the American outfit finish last in the constructors’ championship.
What held Haas F1 back before Komatsu became team principal?
Speaking on the High Performance podcast, Ayao Komatsu shed more light on how Haas would’ve coped with a difficult start to an F1 season under former team principal Guenther Steiner.
The 50-year-old explained that people in charge of the different departments wouldn’t have reached a consensus on what their underlying problems are due to poor communication.
Additionally, Komatsu emphasised how the lack of transparency and the pervasive blame culture used to prevent them from working together effectively and finding solutions faster under the previous leadership.
“Uh, [there] would’ve been certain people, not to start off with, I don’t think we’d have an alignment on accepting what the fundamental issues are because communication was a disaster, right?
“And also the transparency in terms of politics, et cetera. Communication is such a key, by the way, just to put everybody on the same page and also create a safe space that look, nobody’s worried about, nobody’s blaming each other. Only thing important now is to find a solution, right, professionally.
“That wasn’t happening before. So, before, if this would’ve happened like two or three years ago, we would’ve been just arguing forever about what the real issue is.”
What Komatsu’s first action was after replacing Steiner
Asked how the Haas F1 outfit got to the point where their employees across the three operational sites in the US, the UK, and Italy weren’t communicating well with one another, Ayao Komatsu responded that there were multiple factors.
However, Komatsu didn’t elaborate on how petty politics and finger-pointing had become so commonplace in the team under Steiner. Instead, he revealed what his first action was after stepping up into the team principal role at Haas.
The Tokyo native disclosed that the several channels of communication he had opened in their UK base during his first week as team boss had enabled him to not only relay his vision to the employees but also pay attention to what their grievances were.
“I think many dimensions, but if I just talk about what I’ve done since I became team principal in January [2024], on this first thing, I spent one week, sit down with as many people as possible in Banbury, UK, because that’s where I’m based.
“One-to-one group sessions, bigger sessions, smaller sessions, just try to tell them my philosophy, but also listen to them how they see as a problem, why we couldn’t understand the issue of ’23.”
How did the communication gap affect their bases in the UK and Italy?
In reference to what the employees had conveyed to him back in January 2024, Ayao Komatsu highlighted the substantial gap in communication that existed between the two bases of the Haas F1 team in the UK and Italy.
The 50-year-old commented on how the personnel at Maranello faced major conundrums given the conflicting information they received during team debriefs and from certain people in charge of overseeing the development later on.
“Ah, it’s interesting. So, UK side, I knew better, but Italy side was more interesting because I’m not based in Italy, right?
“And then previously I’ve heard, because I was on the trackside, I’ve heard quite a lot about [how] I was complaining about this, but it’s not true and all sorts of things.
“But it’s interesting. As soon as I’ve done exactly the same thing in Italy for one week, sit down one-to-one, lots of people said to me, we weren’t clear what the problem of ’23 car was. I was like, ‘you’re joking because we are doing this debrief, we’ve been telling exactly what the trackside feedback was and then what the drivers say’.
“But then, ‘yeah, yeah, you say that in your debrief, but then afterwards, certain people would say, no, that’s not really the issue, so go and do something else’.”
Komatsu on the lack of transparency in decision-making that previously plagued the Haas F1 squad
Maintaining that he has no issues with people having different opinions in such a technical sport like F1, Ayao Komatsu remarked that persistent indecision and a definite lack of direction had stifled Haas’s momentum under the leadership of Steiner.
Furthermore, Komatsu drew attention to the lack of transparency when it came to decision-making at the senior levels and expressed how the people working on the car were often left with no explanations for why a specific direction was taken.
“I think for me, it’s absolutely normal and okay to have disagreement, right? But at some point, somebody needs to take a decision which direction to go, either it’s a team principal or technical director or head of aero, doesn’t matter, right?
“But whenever somebody takes that decision, I think that decision needs to be made transparently, right? If there’s ten, let’s say, senior engineers in the room, not everybody is going to agree what the biggest issues are. But if direction was made, okay, we’re going to go into this direction, at least everybody needs to understand why we are going to that direction, even if you don’t agree.
“But that kind of alignment, transparency wasn’t there. So, there are so many people didn’t know why we are developing the car in this direction.”
Why Komatsu was on the verge of quitting the team three years ago
In terms of whether he couldn’t approach Steiner regarding the serious communication issues that existed at Haas, Ayao Komatsu quipped about how it would take a much longer episode to talk about his futile exchanges with their former F1 team principal.
“I think we should talk about 24 hours probably; I tried my best.”
Asked if he couldn’t make a difference, the current Haas boss responded, “Yes, no, I mean, yes.”
With regard to whether his unavailing efforts had made him feel a bit helpless, Komatsu divulged that the team being in complete disarray and his time going to waste had nearly made him quit during the Azerbaijan GP weekend in 2023.
“Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, if I’m totally honest, I was ready to quit in Baku ’23.
“Because I just couldn’t see how we can move forward like this. People not talking to each other, no transparency, no alignment, no transparent discussion. And it’s just people not going in the same direction, unified direction. We are not behaving as a team.
“And I felt like I put everything on the table, but in my humble view, it wasn’t happening. So, I don’t like to waste my time. I’m not interested in just turning up at the racetrack just to make up numbers if we are not moving forward. But this I was very close to just walk.”
Why Komatsu didn’t ultimately leave Haas during 2023 F1 campaign
At the same time, Ayao Komatsu also admitted that his sense of responsibility prevented him from parting ways with the Haas F1 team back in 2023. Referring to the staff who still relied on his guidance, he stated that he couldn’t abandon the wobbly boat full of people he cared about and opted to stay and steer them in the right direction.
“But what stopped me walking is like I felt a big responsibility.
“There’s people who rely on me and people who are depending on me to make a difference. So, I thought, okay, I’m not going to walk until I’ve done everything. Or it’s not my choice, if you like.
“So, I wasn’t going to just leave and leave the people I care just behind. That’s the only reason I didn’t leave in ’23.”
