Ayao Komatsu has responded to claims of his former boss Guenther Steiner that Gene Haas has lost interest in F1 amid the team’s average run.
Having started the Haas F1 team together with Gene, Steiner ended his run with the American outfit in 2024 when his contract was renewed. His position was given to Komatsu, who worked under the Italian-American for years as chief race engineer.
The end had its own set of troubles after Steiner filed a case on Haas for using his name, while the American outfit filed their own case alleging that their former boss was still using the team name for his own commercial good. They reached an agreement to dismiss the court case.
It hasn’t stopped Steiner from opining about F1 and also his former team. He has since returned to the racing world as a co-owner, leading a consortium to buy Tech 3 Racing team in MotoGP. On the High Performance Podcast, recalling his Formula 1 days, he shared more than one opinion.
What did Guenther Steiner say
Talking about his former boss Gene, Steiner was of the view that the American lost interest in F1, sometime when the performance of Haas dipped. “Being in a sport, for me being somewhere competitive, I want to be a winner,” he said on the podcast.
“That is what I aim for.. Only one can achieve it, I’m fully aware of that, you know, but you make the maximum effort, not just [aim] to be a participant. It’s the same in life – you don’t just want to be a participant, you want to be a part of life, you want to enjoy yourself.
“In the beginning there was a clear plan – it’s difficult to get into F1, as we now can see with Cadillac it’s not easy. We had success pretty early, we then had a few bad years as well, you know, 2019, but that’s normal in a sport, you cannot have always good years.
“You are competing with the best of the best and at some stage, I don’t know, maybe he lost interest in the sport, maybe he thought it should be done different, and the relationship just deteriorated I would say, over time,” summed up Steiner, who think he stayed too long at Haas and should have left around 2019.
Time after Steiner
Since Steiner’s departure, Haas has finished seventh (58 points) and eighth (79 points) in 2024 and 2025, respectively. It is seventh current in F1 2026 with 21 points. Komatsu has held fort since his departure. In fact, the American outfit was profitable for the first time last year after achieving the budget cap.
Under new regulations, Komatsu conceded that it is not possible to attain the higher budget cap number. But he has brushed away Steiner’s claims about Gene. The Japanese noted that the American will be with the F1 team in this weekend’s Italian GP at Monza.
Komatsu says it is opposite of what Steiner said
He highlighted the increased interest of Gene, with the amount of visits this year. The passion is still there. It is the opposite he thinks to what Steiner says. “No, I mean, he’s been to every single European race this year,” said Komatsu, when asked about Steiner’s comments.
“The only European race he did not travel to, was actually Zandvoort. So, he’s coming to Monza, Madrid, and then, yeah, so I haven’t. I don’t think I’ve seen Gene at so many races. And he’s coming to, obviously, American races as well. No, he’s just a very, very enthusiastic guy.
“Sometimes his expectation is very, very high, but it’s good. I mean, he gets frustrated because he’s so focused on the result, thinks I always should be doing better. Yes, I know, Gene, we’re trying. But he’s very, very engaged, focused. He’s very, very passionate. No, no, it’s the opposite. I’ve never seen him at so many races,” summed up Komatsu.
