The management of Haas F1 has a new vacancy

At Haas F1, following the resignation of Günter Steiner and the appointment of Ayo Komatsu as new head, management reorganization continues. The American team is looking for a specialist who wants to fill the position of Operations Director and work at the base, located in Banbury, England.

Haas F1 has a complex organizational structure, with the team having three offices in three countries. Only the racing team is based in Banbury and the design department is divided into two offices, based in Italy: one at the Ferrari factory in Maranello, the second at the Dallara base. But Haas also has a third office in Charlotte, North Carolina.

While Günter Steiner previously managed this entire complex enterprise alone, his functions will now be divided. Komatsu will assume day-to-day management of the team, while the COO will take on broader strategic responsibilities.

The team placed an advertisement for the position, stating: “The Haas F1 Team is a growing company and we are looking for someone to become our team manager’s right-hand man. We are looking for a Chief Operating Officer – he must have good leadership qualities and the ability to achieve our strategic goals. This director will be based in Banbury, UK.

The Chief Operating Officer will lead our team of highly skilled professionals to be productive and efficient. The ideal candidate has extensive experience in the motorsport industry, preferably in a management position… The candidate has a strategic mindset and the ability to adapt to changing circumstances.”

Also, the list of requirements for such a specialist includes the ability to manage the company’s financial activities, and states: “The minimum experience in a management position in Formula 1 is 10 years.”

This condition significantly reduces the circle of possible candidates, but it is fully met by Otmar Szafnauer, the former head of Alpine F1, with whom the Renault group parted ways in the middle of last season. He is currently on mandatory leave, which will last until August.

A less likely candidate is Paddy Lowe, who once worked in managerial positions at McLaren, Mercedes and Williams, and Mattia Binotto, ex-Ferrari team boss, is currently available, but would he be willing to change his residency and move from Italy? to Great Britain??

Szafnauer’s candidacy therefore seems the most suitable, partly because he received an economics education in the US, at the University of Detroit. He once worked for the Ford Corporation, after which his career started in Formula 1, where he became operations director of the BAR team. He then moved to Honda, where he was one of the leaders of Honda Racing Development, the Japanese car giant’s racing division.

In 2009, Szafnauer moved to Force India and only parted ways with this team in January 2022, when it had already become Aston Martin, after which he was appointed head of Alpine F1.