Romain Grosjean ‘almost’ wants Haas return as Komatsu conquers ‘political games’

From engineer to team principal in one of 2024’s success stories, Romain Grosjean says how Ayao Komatsu would deal with the “political games and media” was the only unknown in his Haas leadership.

Komatsu stepped into the role of Haas team boss at the beginning of the year, taking the reins from Guenther Steiner after the Italian was sacked over the phone by team owner Gene Haas.

Haas are P7 in the standings in Ayao Komatsu’s first year in charge

“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,” Haas said at the time.

But as the engineer stepped into the hot seat there were questions about whether he was the right man for the job.

He quietly set about answering those, Haas scoring points in three of the opening five races including a double points haul in Australia, almost two years after they last achieved that feat.

The American team has gone on to score points in six more races, including two additional doubles, to bring their tally to 46. That’s their third-highest haul in their nine years on the grid and there are still three more races in which they could beat 2017’s 47.

Seventh in the Constructors’ Championship after Alpine’s double podium in Brazil, Haas have time to regain P6 as they are just three points behind the works team.

Komatsu’s first season in charge has been one of the success and surprise stories of 2024.

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Former Haas driver Grosjean, who knows Komatsu from his days with the team, says it almost makes him want a second stint with the F1 team.

“I’m so proud of Ayao and what he’s been doing with Haas, bringing the team back to a much better level – just making the most of it and working as he does,” Grosjean told F1.com.

“I was lucky to know before the official announcement; I got a text from Ayao. I told him that I was very proud of him, very proud of everything he’s done, and very happy for him.

“Of course, I didn’t know how it was going to be turning out, but it’s fantastic. It almost makes me feel like I want to race for them again!”

Under Komatsu’s leadership, Haas have signed a huge technical alliance with Toyota Gazoo Racing, one that will give them access to Toyota’s simulator technology while also opening the door for an extensive testing of a previous car [TPC] programme.

Asked if he thought the 48-year-old always had the potential to be more than an engineer, Grosjean replied: “No, you never know. It’s a different role [team boss], it’s a different approach, there’s also a bit of political games and media.

“I had no idea about that part. I knew he could set everything up [to succeed], but that part was the unknown, and he’s been doing really, really well.”

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