Unclear future and F1 exit on the cards for departing Haas technical director

Resta left his job as Haas’ technical director just hours before team principal Guenther Steiner followed him out of the door.

His exit has now been explained as the expiration of a loan arrangement, at the end of 2023, between Ferrari and Haas, F1.com report.

That means Resta has now gone back to Ferrari but he no longer has an obvious role to play.

He will not work in Ferrari’s F1 division, it s reported.

Ferrari also have their road car business and a sportscar programme which also operate from Maranello, so they are potential landing spots for Resta.

He worked as Ferrari F1’s chief designer between 2014 and 2018.

Resta then led Alfa Romeo’s technical department, before joining Haas as their technical director on a loan agreement from Ferrari in 2021.

A disagreement with team owner Gene Haas may have also been behind Resta’s exit from Haas, it had been reported.

But he now has no clear job to move into.

And although Haas have replaced team principal Steiner with Ayao Komatsu, they have not yet replaced Resta.

So with just over a month to go until preseason testing begins in Bahrain on February 21, Haas must appoint a technical director.

They also seek a Chief Operating Officer to look after HR, admin, finance, marketing and communications.

It appears to be a major upheaval at Haas, who finished bottom of the 2023 F1 constructors’ championship.

But the wording of owner Gene Haas’ statement, when replacing Steiner with Komatsu, was perhaps telling.

Despite the business savvy of Steiner of build and maintain an F1 team, Haas now want engineering expertise to drive them forwards.

They clearly hope that Komatsu can offer them superior knowledge in developing their car, which is expected to follow a similar concept to Red Bull’s last year, when it is unveiled for the upcoming season.