For almost a decade, my mom and I have kept one tradition. Wherever Formula 1 races that weekend, that is where dinner comes from. Melbourne sends us to the Australian coast. Suzuka brings Japan into our kitchen. Monza means Italy, and a very long lunch.

What began as a way to watch together became the best part of our week. A country we have never visited. An ingredient we have never bought. An hour side by side at the stove before the lights go out. Somewhere between the first course and the checkered flag, it stopped being dinner and became ours.

For years we joked that it should be a cookbook. Now we are writing it, together, one race at a time.

Podium Plates is more than a book to us. It is a reason to keep building something side by side, to keep learning the places we have only seen on a screen, and to follow this sport a little closer with every season. Support it, and you are not only backing a cookbook. You are pulling up a chair at our table, and coming along for whatever comes next.

Ayao Komatsu

Japanese engineer who rose from tire engineer to team principal of Haas in January 2024

Ayao Komatsu

Japanese engineer who rose from tire engineer to team principal of Haas in January 2024

Ayao Komatsu left Tokyo for Loughborough University in 1995 and stayed to earn an automotive engineering degree and a doctorate in vehicle dynamics. He began in 2003 as a tire engineer at British American Racing, moved to Renault in 2006, and as race engineer formed a close partnership with Romain Grosjean at Lotus, with nine podiums together.

When Grosjean joined the new Haas team in 2016, Komatsu followed as trackside engineering director. On the 10th of January 2024 he succeeded Guenther Steiner as team principal, and in his first season Haas finished seventh in the constructors' championship. He has supported Coventry City since 1995, which suggests a tolerance for long projects.

Teams led

Haas F1 Team, 2024 to today

Every Grand Prix has a flavor.

Start with a name, a place or a year.

My mom and I.

Wherever the race goes, dinner goes too.

A World, A Menu, A Race Weekend.

Five things, every round.

Discover the destination

Choose one dish

Share the table

Watch the race

Repeat next round

The Founders Edition

Round one, Melbourne.

Pan seared barramundi

Explore it with us.

Researched where it comes from

Written for any kitchen

Every fact traced to a source

Independent and unofficial

Pull up a chair with us.

Buy the cookbook

Join The Podium Table

Support our journey

Before you pull up a chair.

Your next race weekend starts at the table.

Ayao Komatsu

Ayao Komatsu

Teams led

Every Grand Prix has a flavor.

Start with a name, a place or a year.

My mom and I.

Wherever the race goes, dinner goes too.

A World, A Menu, A Race Weekend.

Five things, every round.

Discover the destination

Choose one dish

Share the table

Watch the race

Repeat next round

The Founders Edition

Round one, Melbourne.

Pan seared barramundi

Explore it with us.

Researched where it comes from

Written for any kitchen

Every fact traced to a source

Independent and unofficial

Pull up a chair with us.

Buy the cookbook

Join The Podium Table

Support our journey

Before you pull up a chair.

Every Grand Prix, in your inbox.

Your next race weekend starts at the table.

Ayao Komatsu

Teams led