The Formula One paddock didn’t see this coming, and neither did Guenther Steiner, it seems. Haas F1 has abruptly removed the team principal. His departure was so sudden and unexpected that Steiner wasn’t even allowed to bid farewell to team members. Team owner Gene Haas could no longer tolerate the downward spiral of performance that marked Steiner’s last season in F1. Steiner is being replaced by Ayao Komatsu, a veteran F1 engineer who currently serves as Hass’s trackside engineering director.

During a media Gene Haas elaborated on his decision to fire Guenther Steiner with immediate effect:

“I like Guenther, he’s a really nice person, a really good personality. Here we are in our eighth year, over 160 races – we have never had a podium. The last couple of years, we’ve been 10th or ninth.”

“I’m not sitting here saying it’s Guenther’s fault, or anything like that, but it just seems like this was an appropriate time to make a change and try a different direction, because it doesn’t seem like continuing with what we had is really going to work.”

“We had a tough end to the year. I don’t understand that, I really don’t. Those are good questions to ask Guenther, what went wrong. At the end of the day, it’s about performance. I have no interest in being 10th anymore.”

Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg took to social media to thank Steiner; however, both are out of contract at the end of the season. With Gene Haas in no mood to compromise over performance, both drivers will be warily looking over their shoulders in 2024. There’s no need to pity Steiner; he’s not lacking in wealth, and the only casualty here is his bruised ego.

The sudden and unexpected exit of Guenther Steiner may seem savage, but this is F1. The world of F1 is a revolving door, teams come and go, people come and go and drivers come and go, technology improves. Yet, the elusive challenge of enhancing performance and sustaining consistency remains a mystery that no team can confidently expect to conquer entirely.