Ayao Komatsu is the newest team principal of the Formula 1 grid and has got off to a brilliant start.
He replaced popular boss Guenther Steiner in the winter at Haas after they finished bottom of the Constructors’ Championship in 2023.
Komatsu was speaking on the Beyond The Grid Podcast and talking about his journey from engineer to Haas chief.
After moving to England to study engineering, Komatsu worked his way up from amateur single-seater racing to Formula 1.
He eventually became a tyre engineer for BAR more than 20 years ago before moving to Renault.
Komatsu worked in the race team with several Formula 1 drivers before deciding to join Haas when they joined the sport in 2016.
He was a trackside engineering director until just a few months ago when he stepped into Steiner’s shoes and during his career has worked with plenty of top drivers.
However, Komatsu has admitted that the feedback Fernando Alonso would provide when driving for Renault was on another level than his rivals.
There’s a reason why the 42-year-old is a two-time world champion and one of the greatest drivers of his generation.
READ MORE: Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso’s life outside F1 from net worth to Cars 2
Ayao Komatsu says Fernando Alonso is on another level
There’s a reason why more than 20 years after his debut with Minardi, Fernando Alonso is still thriving in Formula 1.
He was brought in by Aston Martin last season to replace a four-time world champion in the form of Sebastian Vettel and – albeit with a more competitive car – outperformed the very impressive German straight away.
His engineers immediately noticed how dedicated he was to improving the car as soon as he arrived and that’s one of the reasons why he’s been so successful.
Komatsu worked closely with Jenson Button, Vitaly Petrov and Romain Grosjean during his time in F1, but thinks Alonso is at a different level to his rivals.
The Spaniard is entering the final year of his current contract at Aston Martin, but a reunion seems extremely unlikely right now.
READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Haas F1 Team from team principal to Ferrari relationship
Fernando Alonso shows his class during Renault stint
Speaking about the 42-year-old, Komatsu said: “When I moved to Renault doing tyre testing with Fernando Alonso, that was a complete eye-opener, absolutely on another level, incredible.
Clarkson: “So, Alonso was on a different level to [Jenson] Button in terms of feedback?”
Komatsu: “In terms of feedback but also his feel, he knows what he needs to do in say the first five laps to make the tyres behave a certain way on lap 20.
“So, let’s say we used to give a target stint length, for this compound, for this race at this circuit we say he needs to do 20 laps on these tyres but for the last five laps, lap 15 to lap 20, we wanted to be able to increase the lap time by this much.
“And on the in-lap, the tyre needs to be completely finished. But when we were testing with Jenson, nothing against Jenson hopefully people don’t take it in the wrong way, but Jenson found it a bit difficult to completely hit the target.
“Whereas Fernando, you give him that target, he was absolutely bang on. It is absolutely amazing how he knows, ‘OK, if the tyre feels this way on lap two, lap three, lap four, I need to drive in this way, take out this much, then I’ll have exactly the performance over 20 laps.’”
Ayao Komatsu has decision to make on Haas driver’s future
While Komatsu would love to have two drivers at the same level as Alonso at his disposal at Haas, he can’t be too upset with his current options.
Nico Hulkenberg has scored points in back-to-back races while Kevin Magnussen earned his first point in Melbourne.
It means they’re above Williams, Alpine and Sauber at this early stage of the campaign.
Both of their current drivers are out of contract at the end of the year, although Magnussen is increasing his chances of earning a new contract.
Hulkenberg is attracting interest from Audi, but that could open up a spot for exciting youngster Oliver Bearman.
The post ‘On a different level’: Ayao Komatsu raves about ‘incredible' F1 star he worked with before joining Haas appeared first on F1 Oversteer.