Haas

Ayao Komatsu was born on 28 January 1976 in Tokyo, Japan, and moved to the UK in 1995 to study Automotive Engineering at Loughborough University, where he also earned a PhD in Vehicle Dynamics and Control. He began his F1 career in 2003 as a tyre engineer at British American Racing, then joined Renault in 2006 as a performance engineer before rising to race engineer, working closely with Romain Grosjean at the Enstone team (Renault/Lotus) for a decade. When Grosjean joined the newly formed Haas F1 Team in 2016, Komatsu followed as Trackside Engineering Director, later becoming Director of Engineering. On 10 January 2024, Gene Haas promoted him to Team Principal following the departure of Guenther Steiner, and he enters his third season in that role for the 2026 campaign.