Tag: gene haas

Haas seeing team changes start to pay off

Gene Haas is hopeful that his team can consolidate its stronger position in Formula 1’s midfield after his decision to replace his team principal Guenther Steiner with Ayao Komatsu has been followed by a more competitive 2024 season. Steiner’s …

Gene Haas is hopeful that his team can consolidate its stronger position in Formula 1’s midfield after his decision to replace his team principal Guenther Steiner with Ayao Komatsu has been followed by a more competitive 2024 season.

Steiner’s contract was not renewed at the end of last year, with Komatsu being promoted into the role ahead of the new season. After finishing at the bottom of the constructors’ championship in two of the last three years, it’s been a stronger campaign so far for Haas, with the team seventh in the standings after back-to-back sixth places for Nico Hulkenberg, and the team owner wants to cement that level of competitiveness.

“We got to this step on the mountain and we need to stay here for a while, not go back down the mountain,” Haas (pictured above) told SiriusXM. “We have good pace — our car’s not as fast as we could be or should be, but it’s as fast as we can be right now to be mid-pack. So if we can just stay there we’ll be in good shape.

“We’ll have some more upgrades coming during the year. The upgrades I think have been a lot more successful than in previous years, so hopefully that will keep us ahead of everybody else who we are racing.”

Haas says the decision to appoint a new team principal was an easy one despite Steiner having held the role since the team’s inception, saying the finishing positions had become tiresome.

“We did a lot of changes and the changes are working, so that’s good. It’s all good,” he said. “We had four years of almost being dead last, so that was enough to motivate me.”

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The American was present in both Austria and Great Britain to see the pair of sixth-place finishes for Hulkenberg, and was pleased with the way his team took its opportunities, although he admitted it was bittersweet given that Hulkenberg will be leaving at the end of the season.

“It’s a good feeling. I think we kind of paced ourselves — right tire selections, right pit calls and everything else,” Haas said. “It’s all important — we didn’t make any mistakes.

“[Hulkenberg] gets every bit out of the car; we know that that’s about as fast as the car can go when he drives it. Things change, you just get used to it in racing.”

Why Gene Haas kept a NASCAR charter for Haas Factory Team

Why did Gene Haas keep a NASCAR charter for Haas Factory Team? Haas gave an explanation on why he is staying in NASCAR!

Stewart-Haas Racing announced it would shut down after the 2024 NASCAR season, but [autotag]Gene Haas[/autotag] won’t be going anywhere. On Thursday afternoon, it was announced that Haas would retain a charter from Stewart-Haas Racing and rebrand to [autotag]Haas Factory Team[/autotag]. The driver, sponsors, and manufacturer were not revealed in the announcement.

However, what made Haas go down this road? The NASCAR team owner explained his decision to keep his presence in the Cup Series beyond Stewart-Haas Racing in 2025 and beyond.

“My commitment to motorsports hasn’t changed, just the scope of my involvement,” Haas said. “Operating a four-car [NASCAR Cup Series] team has become too arduous but, at the same time, I still need a platform to promote Haas Automation and grow HaasTooling.com. Maintaining my presence in Cup allows Haas Automation to compete at NASCAR’s highest level, which is important to our customers and distributors. The [NASCAR Xfinity Series] program provides a full weekend experience for our guests, and it delivers added depth and scale to our overall operation.”

A four-car operation in the Cup Series was too much for Haas, but a one-car operation will be easier to maintain and develop. It’s always good to see new programs in the Cup Series, so it will be interesting to see how Haas and Joe Custer handle this situation. NASCAR silly season has been crazy, and Haas only added to the madness.

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Gene Haas to keep one NASCAR charter, rebrand to Haas Factory Team

Gene Haas will keep one Stewart-Haas Racing charter while rebranding to Haas Factory Team for the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season.

Stewart-Haas Racing previously announced it would shut its doors after the 2024 NASCAR season; however, co-owner [autotag]Gene Haas[/autotag] will be sticking around. On Thursday afternoon, it was announced that Haas will keep one of the four Stewart-Haas Racing charters and continue his presence in NASCAR by rebranding to the [autotag]Haas Factory Team[/autotag].

Alongside the one-car Cup Series program, Haas Factory Team will operate a two-car program in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, the same as the 2024 season. Joe Custer will be the president of Haas Factory Team, and drivers and team partners will be announced ahead of the 2025 NASCAR season next February.

This was rumored as a possibility for weeks, but it now means all Stewart-Haas Racing charters have a likely home. It is excellent that Haas will continue his presence in NASCAR, and it’ll be interesting to see which manufacturer the team will run for in 2025 and beyond. Stewart-Haas Racing might be nearing an end, but Haas Factory Team is just beginning.

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Gene Haas to continue in NASCAR with new Haas Factory Team in 2025

Gene Haas will continue to have a presence in NASCAR next season under a new enterprise: Haas Factory Team. The news comes less than a month after Haas and Tony Stewart released a joint statement saying Stewart-Haas Racing will close its door at …

Gene Haas will continue to have a presence in NASCAR next season under a new enterprise: Haas Factory Team.

The news comes less than a month after Haas and Tony Stewart released a joint statement saying Stewart-Haas Racing will close its door at season’s end. Haas and Stewart have co-owned the team since 2009, fielding multiple cars in both the NASCAR Xfinity Series and Cup Series.

Haas, however, will keep one of the charters from the four-car NASCAR Cup Series program. The two-car NASCAR Xfinity Series team, which won the championship last season with Cole Custer, will also continue.

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“My commitment to motorsports hasn’t changed, just the scope of my involvement,” Haas said. “Operating a four-car Cup Series team has become too arduous but, at the same time, I still need a platform to promote Haas Automation and grow HaasTooling.com.

“Maintaining my presence in Cup allows Haas Automation to compete at NASCAR’s highest level, which is important to our customers and distributors. The Xfinity Series program provides a full weekend experience for our guests, and it delivers added depth and scale to our overall operation.”

There were no drivers or team partners announced for Haas Factory Team. A manufacturer was also not mentioned.

Joe Custer will be the president of Haas Factory Team, which will operate out of the existing Stewart-Haas Racing building. Custer is currently the co-president of Stewart-Haas Racing.

Custer and Riley Herbst drive for Stewart-Haas Racing in the Xfinity Series. Josh Berry, Noah Gragson, Chase Briscoe and Ryan Preece compete for the organization in the Cup Series.

Haas tired of being ‘humiliated every weekend,’ highlights need for aero advances

Gene Haas says he no longer wants to be “humiliated every weekend” and wants to see further changes to his Formula 1 team’s aerodynamic department, following the departures of Guenther Steiner and Simone Resta. Steiner was replaced as team principal …

Gene Haas says he no longer wants to be “humiliated every weekend” and wants to see further changes to his Formula 1 team’s aerodynamic department, following the departures of Guenther Steiner and Simone Resta.

Steiner was replaced as team principal on Wednesday, with Haas making the surprise move of promoted director of track engineering Ayao Komatsu into the role. Technical director Resta has also left — although RACER understands that decision had already been made prior to Steiner’s departure — and the team owner says there was a clear area where Haas needs to improve.

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“I think we’ve actually got a great formula here,” Haas told the official Formula 1 website. “We have Ferrari engines which probably have more power than anybody right now. We have Ferrari hardware, we have a good chassis. I talk to a lot of the engineers and I think our biggest failing is aero; our aero program needs work. When you’re at the track and you’re humiliated every weekend, I’m going to stop taking that one anymore.”

Haas says the decision to part ways with Steiner, who has led the team since its inception a decade ago, was solely down to results after finishing at the bottom of the constructors’ championship in 2023.

“It came down to performance. 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 [sic — Haas was eighth in 2022].

“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.

“It is [hard], I like Guenther — he’s a really nice person, a really good personality. 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.

“We need to do better. It’s easier to keep sponsors and attract sponsors if we’re a mid-pack team and not a dead last team. That’s my perspective on it. At the same time, if we can run a little faster, we’ll get more FOM [Formula One Management] money, which will make life a bit easier.

“It’s really all about winning. We have a great team, we have great engines, we have really great drivers. There’s no reason why we are 10th. I can’t understand how we can be with all the equipment and people we have.”

Guenther Steiner out as team principal at Haas F1 Team

Steiner had previously served as Haas’ team principal for all eight years of the team’s existence.

A big change is coming at Haas F1 Team for 2024.

The team announced on Wednesday that team principal [autotag]Guenther Steiner[/autotag], who has served in that role for Haas since the team’s inception in 2016, has been relieved of his duties. The move comes after a 2023 season where Haas scored 12 points and finished last in the Formula 1 World Driver’s Championship.

Owner Gene Haas spoke on the decision Wednesday, thanking Steiner for his contributions to the team but insinuating that the team’s goals have not been met.

“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,” Haas said in a statement. “We have had some successes, but we need to be consistent in delivering results that help us reach our wider goals as an organization. We need to be efficient with the resources we have but improving our design and engineering capability is key to our success as a team.”

Steiner will be succeeded by Ayao Komatsu, who previously served as Haas’ Director of Engineering. The move comes as Haas looks to center in on the engineering side of the team, and Komatsu has over 20 years of engineering experience in F1.

“Moving forward as an organization, 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 in his statement. “I’m looking forward to working with Ayao and fundamentally ensuring that we maximize our potential – this truly reflects my desire to compete properly in Formula 1.”

Steiner was particularly noteworthy among F1 fans for his appearances on Netflix’s Drive to Survive series, where he often showed off his flamboyant personality.

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