What’s next for Haas and Steiner?

After a lengthy partnership, Haas has parted ways from Guenther Steiner leaving Ayao Komatsu to replace the outgoing Team Principal, so what next?

With everyone contemplating their New Year resolutions, hopes and dreams, Steiner’s shocking exit from the Haas F1 Team has rippled through a fairly tepid, lacklustre winter break. 

In preparation for the upcoming season, the Steiner/Haas split certainly wasn’t on the 2024 Formula One bingo cards.

Their former Director of Engineering, Komatsu, is now poised to take up the mantle of Team Principal, one question that will be on everyone’s mind is: what happens now?  

What next: Haas F1 

Team Owner, Gene Haas hasn’t been happy with the team’s performance over recent seasons, he said it himself when the news broke of their split from Steiner. Haas said:

“Moving forward as an organisation it was clear we need to improve our on-track performances. We have had some successes, but we need to be consistent in delivering results that help us reach our wider goals as an organisation.”

It’s true, the team hasn’t performed well as they have been at the bottom of the order in two of the last three seasons with a pointless score in 2021 and 18 points in 2023, just behind Alfa Romeo. 

In turn, an engineering-led team, directed by Komatsu, may prove dividends to their problems as the team repeatedly failed to convert promising one-lap pace into a strong points haul. 

The Japanese engineer, now Team Principal, has 20 years’ worth of experience and has been tasked to guide the team to better pastures. Haas believes his engineering background is fundamental and key to their future successes, reflecting his desire to compete in F1 properly.

This focus would’ve likely been brought on by Andretti being in the running for a position on the grid, alongside General Motors, placing Haas’ staple as the only American team in F1 at risk.  

So, what next for Haas? Under new leadership directed by engineering knowledge, the outcome – that Haas would hope for – is more consistent results in the Grand Prix and a more competent midfield team. This would be a promising sign for the team owner, especially with Andretti’s shadow looming. 

What next: Steiner

On the other side of the party, Steiner has a few options ahead of him as he embarks on the next step of his career.  

One plausible result is that he could look into another F1 team to lead. With only a team representative instead of a traditional team principal, Sauber – now Stake F1 Team – could be a possibility. 

While Alessandro Alunni Bravi continues to lead the operation at Stake as the team representative, working towards their takeover by Audi in 2026, Steiner could join the then-German manufacturer team as their team principal. 

The Italian team principal could look into switching disciplines once more. Despite having a prominent status in F1, the Italian has been involved in other disciplines of motorsport during his career such as the World Rally Championship and NASCAR. 

Or, he could look to retire early as he creeps closer to his twilight years. 

What next for Steiner then? Considering retirement is certainly on the Horizon for the Italian engineer-turned-team principal, it just seems the possibility is too far away. Whilst both the potential switching of disciplines and leading a new F1 team look to be the more possible outcomes, the strongest conclusion could be to lead the Audi F1 Team. 

However, based on recent results over the last three seasons, Steiner has a hill to climb to overcome the potential objection from Audi to land the top spot position.

That’s all for the article; What’s next for Haas and Steiner?

Read more Formula 1 here:

• Guenther Steiner leaves Haas F1 replaced by Ayao Komatsu
• 3 Bold F1 Predictions in 2024
• Top 5 F1 races in 2023
• Sauber renamed to Stake F1 Team ahead of 2024 F1 season
• Red Bull’s Christian Horner given CBE as Ron Dennis knighted in Honours List
• F1 Report Card 2023: Another season at the back for Haas

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Kamron Kent

Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.

I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.

Kamron Kent

Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.