Who is the new team boss of Haas F1?

Ahead of the new Formula 1 campaign, Haas announced that AyaoKomatsu has replaced Guenther Steiner as its Team Principal. Thepress release from Haas F1 left no ambiguity as to why preciselyKomatsu has been put forward as the new leader of the team, as hewill bring extensive knowledge in the engineering field to hisrole. Komatsu was born on January 28, 1976 in Japan but moved toEurope in 1995 to study in the United Kingdom. He has been activein F1 since 2003, working in various roles across the grid en routeto becoming a Team Principal. With a Bachelor's degree inAutomotive Engineering as well as a PhD in Vehicle Dynamics andControl under his belt, Komatsu joined British American Racing(BAR) as a tyre engineer in 2003. He remained with that team forthree years before moving to Lotus (Renault). There, he developedfrom Performance Engineer to Race Engineer to Chief Race Engineerin 10 years. Grosjean's right-hand man When Haas F1 made its debuton the F§ stage in 2016, Komatsu went to work for the US-ownedteam, initially in the same role he held at Lotus in its finalyear. He held that position throughout the team's current years,and as such, fans may have heard him regularly over the drivers'onboard radio. The move from Lotus to Haas, by the way, was notaccidental - he transferred with Romain Grosjean to the Americansquad. He was the Frenchman's race engineer during all ofGrosjean's Lotus years and considers Grosjean a close friend, evenafter he suffered a devastating crash at the 2020 Bahrain GrandPrix and ended his F1 career. Despite Grosjean's departure from thesport, Komtasu remained with Haas. His promotion to the helm of thesquad gives it the benefit of employing an individual who is notonly just experienced in F1, but also within the team itself.