Haas 'irritated' by key F1 2023 race failure under Steiner

Teambaas van Haas in Singapore — Photo: © LAT Images

F1 Analysis

Haas 'irritated' by key F1 2023 race failure under Steiner

Guenther Steiner ultimately paid with his job for failures at Haas

Cal Gaunt

Friday 12 January 2024 12:57

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The F1 community was sent into a frenzy on Wednesday with the surprising departure of long-time Haas team principal Guenther Steiner.

After a lacklustre 2023 season resulting in a 10th-place finish in the constructors' championship, Steiner ultimately faced the consequences.

Ayao Komatsu, the head of race engineering, now steps into the role of team principal, while Gene Haas' thanks to Steiner were notably succinct.

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Amid Steiner's abrupt exit just months before the 2024 season, speculation about the circumstances has been growing.

What swayed Haas into firing Steiner?

Guenther Steiner was unable to propel Haas to better results in 2023

Ayao Komatsu replaced Guenther Steiner as team principal at Haas F1

Gene Haas was reluctant to pump his own money into Steiner's Haas project

According to F1.com's Lawrence Barretto, Haas's decision was fuelled mainly by a running out of patience, particularly expressing frustration over the disappointing outcomes of the $8 million upgrade revealed at the United States Grand Prix in Austin.

"To take advantage of that allowance and improve their own capabilities that are trailing rivals in the short-term, they would need Gene Haas to spend his own money," he wrote.

"He did just that for the big upgrade package introduced in Austin last year. Sources say that cost around $8 million. The results were disappointing, with Nico Hulkenberg even reverting to the old spec, which turned out to be faster.

"The disappointment of the big and expensive upgrade irritated Gene Haas for obvious reasons. It wouldn’t be a surprise, then, if he is reluctant to put his own money on the table once again.

"The topic of investment – and how change was needed because something wasn’t working – is likely to have been a central point of discussions when he met with Steiner for their regular winter catch-up to review how the team was doing and what the future looked like."

Haas Guenther Steiner Ayao Komatsu Gene Haas