“Drive to survive will be sh*t now”: Haas boss Guenther Steiner’s departure sends shock waves online among F1 fans

Guenther Steiner left the role of team principal of the Haas F1 team ahead of the 2024 F1 season, and Ayao Komatsu is set to replace him.

Following the departure of their technical director Simone Resta, Steiner, who had been leading the team since their F1 debut in 2016, also left Haas ahead of the 2024 season. The team had a tough time during 2023 as they fell to the bottom of the Championship table once again.

After finishing with 0 points in 2021, the American outfit had an upward trajectory with the new aerodynamic regulations in F1.

At the same time, Simone Resta, their former technical director, had the chance to get his insights on the car. Now, heading into another new season, which is expected to be a better one for the team, both Resta and Guenther Steiner have left, leaving behind a whole mess of confusion.

While the team did not perform very competitively in the recent seasons, Steiner had become a fan-favourite because of the Netflix show, Drive to Survive.

His comic statements were loved by fans, and now that he won't be a part of the show (from Haas' side at least), the fans would seemingly miss him. As this one user on Twitter wrote:

"Noooo Drive to survive will be sh*t now"

"He was a character but he had to go! Thanks Günther"

"This is a big bummer. But hopefully the silver lining is new potential and exciting new strategy/ fresh brains. We all dream of a real serious run for Haas"

"he’s joining as Ferrari team principal announcement when?"

"He might not have been a good team principal near the end but damn he was a legend"

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Ayao Komatsu to replace Guenther Steiner as Haas' team principal

Ahead of discussions between Guenther Steiner and Gene Haas, owner of the team, it was decided that the former would leave. Ayao Komatsu, a Japanese engineer, is set to replace him as the team principal.

Komatsu has been with them since the 2016 season as well. Initially, he was the chief race engineer and rose to be the Director of Engineering, and now he will be promoted as the team's new principal.

This all be a new challenge for the American outfit. While Guenther Steiner has left the team with immediate effect, so has their now-former technical director Simone Resta. He was a core part of the team having worked at Ferrari for almost two decades.