It has been a significant period of adjustment for Jonathan Wheatley, who has been leading Sauber since this spring – the team that will officially transform into Audi’s factory team in Formula 1 next year. The experienced Brit admits that the first few months were quite challenging: “it was a real baptism of fire.”
After years of being the sporting director at Red Bull Racing, Wheatley consciously chose a new chapter. Not as an advisor or manager, but as a team boss at the helm of a team in development. Wheatley began his duties on the pit wall during the Grand Prix of Japan in April. According to the Brit, it was an immediate special start: “It was really a baptism of fire. Of course, it was an unusual start to the season for me. I watched the first two races on my iPhone because I couldn’t get the technology in my new apartment in Switzerland working properly. And when I first really walked into the team, it immediately felt like I had been part of it from the beginning,” says Wheatley.
Wheatley is now one of the most respected faces in the paddock. However, he is not someone who only wants to make a career. “I have previously described myself as someone without too much personal ambition,” he says. “But for the team I work with, I have always been extremely ambitious – to make that team as strong and successful as possible. My career is actually a consequence of that.”
