Martin Brundle has suggested that Guenther Steiner may have left Haas on a sour note after the news of his sacking was confirmed on Wednesday. The 58-year-old was relieved of his duties after a decade-long spell as team principal, with director of engineering Ayao Komatsu stepping up to replace him.

Steiner helped to build Haas from the ground up after persuading the team’s owner, Gene Haas, to branch out into F1 a decade ago. His own popularity with fans was of great commercial benefit to the cash-strapped American outfit, but their desire to improve results ultimately led to his dismissal just weeks before the start of the new season.

Reacting to the news on X, formerly Twitter, Brundle pointed to the lack of a statement from Steiner in Haas’ official press release as a clear sign that things may have turned ugly behind the scenes.

“Always significant when the departing person is not quoted in the press release, tells you there’s friction, suspect we’ll hear more about this,” wrote Brundle. “The team hasn’t progressed in recent seasons, but hard to know exactly why without being on the inside. Good luck Guenther. And Haas.”

In the release, Haas made it clear that performance was the driving force behind their decision to part ways with Steiner. The team’s owner was quoted as saying: “I’d like to start by extending my thanks to Guenther Steiner for all his hard work over the past decade and I wish him well for the future.

“Moving forward as an organisation, it was clear we need to improve our on-track performances. In appointing Ayao Komatsu as team principal, we fundamentally have engineering at the heart of our management.”

Steiner’s exit was announced less than two months before the start of the new season, with Haas looking to accelerate their progress after 10 years at the wrong end of the pecking order. They will be desperate to improve on their last-placed finish in the Constructors’ Championship standings in 2023, which saw them earn a total of just 12 points all year.

Komatsu, who has replaced Steiner with immediate effect, boasts two decades of experience in the F1 paddock and has been at Haas since 2016. He began his career in motorsport as a tyre engineer for British American Racing and previously spent 10 years with Renault, now Alpine, working in various roles with the Enstone outfit.

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