In the second part of an exclusive interview Jonathan Wheatley reveals to Motorsport Week Sauber’s positive shift in mentality en route to its transition to Audi, and how he and Mattia Binotto have been gearing up for the team’s 2026 Formula 1 debut.
Jonathan Wheatley took over as Sauber Team Principal after a hugely successful sting with Red Bull, latterly as Sporting Director.
By moving to Sauber, the challenge was to lead the team, not only like all others on the pit wall up and down the grid, but as a man needing to draw focus onto its transition to German giants Audi.
So far, everything has gone to plan, with Sauber enjoying a rejuvenation as the four rings gather momentum in Neuburg, no doubt in part due to Wheatley’s experience and enthusiasm. This certainly came across in his then-role at Sauber when he sat down exclusively with Motorsport Week, bringing his positive energy to the Swiss squad, while embracing a cohesive teamwork mindset.
“I think I bring an energy with me, a positive energy,” he stated. “I think I am a tremendously positive person. I do believe in a team. I do believe that a cohesive team that understands exactly what the target is, and they’re all acting in this same direction, [and] can do extraordinary things.
“And I think in my career, I’ve been able to be part of these teams that have done extraordinary things. And I see no reason why this team couldn’t be on that journey as well. There’s so much energy here with Simon [Sproule, Senior Advisor]. There’s so many young people. It’s about guiding and try to identify talent in the business and make us stronger as an organization.
In addition to his extensive background in F1, Wheatley has had the privilege of working with different engine manufacturers which has not only helped him on a technical level but on a human level as well that has helped prepare him to his current positon.
“I think one of one of those things is I can speak to everyone at every level,” he reasons. “Every morning here I walk around and say good morning to everyone from the hospitality, catering staff to all the mechanics and the garage, the engineers. I can speak to everyone at every level, because I’ve worked at that level, I’ve done something, and I realise that how everybody has a vital contribution to make.
“Literally, every single person in the team has a vital contribution towards what happens on Sunday afternoon. So I think I’ve just always been comfortable in this environment, because I know what people’s pressures are, and also, because I’ve been travelling for so long now. I understand the stresses that puts on it, and I have a tremendous amount of respect, I think, for the people that work in the team. So hopefully that comes across as a positive thing about the way I try to manage the team.”
Circling back to just how beneficial Wheatley’s humble roots as a mechanic were to his progression as a Team Principal, he reflects on just how perfect the timing has been in his career up until now.
“So with the engine team, I was dressing the engines, putting them into cars, talking to the guys on a day-to-day basis, connecting the hydraulics. So, you know, I’ve done that. Then I’ve structured the team around the engine team…then I’ve been responsible for the trackside operations for over 20 years now, and now I’m responsible for the whole team operation. So it’s felt like at each stage of my career, it’s come at the right time. And yeah, I understand engine people, like I understand chassis people.”
And one of Wheatley’s strongest attributes as a Team Principal is his hands-on approach.
“Yeah, I think I am [hands-on], I but I enjoy building teams,” he says. “I’ve spent my life really identifying talent and trying to guide it, guide people onto the best path for their career. I was excited about this project because with Mattia Binotto in charge of the technical side of the operation, bringing chassis and powertrain together, I could be free to swing through the jungle on the vines if you like.
“I can spend time where I like to spend time. And I personally very, very much enjoy interacting with people at all levels in the business, and I think I bring a positivity, a positive energy, with me, and I hope that when I speak to people, I leave them feeling highly motivated and looking forward to the next stage in the journey.”
Jonathan Wheatley: Binotto and I share the same vision for Audi
Speaking of extraordinary things, Wheatley took over as Team Principal at Sauber after the team finished last in the Constructors’ Championship in 2024 with only four points, and has managed to lead the team to accumulate 70 points by the end of the season. In addition to the progress made in the Constructors’, drivers Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto have consistently scored points in races throughout the 2025 season.
Wheatley led the team to its first podium in 13 years, with Hulkenberg finally achieving his career-long goal that ended his 239-race streak without a top three finish. Despite experiencing on-track success his first year at Sauber, Wheatley confesses that his biggest challenge has been to manage his expectations of what he believes should be done differently.
“I think for me, it is the amount of things that I can see, that we can do differently,” he explained. “I’m not necessarily saying better, but just differently, and trying to bring the team on that journey, rather than try to swamp everyone with a whole load of new ideas, I’m making notes, still on a ferocious level. Every weekend, every day, I’m making voice to text notes as I’m walking from here and there, things I observe, things that we could do differently, and all of these things have their path, and my strategy for the team over the next five years, you know?
“And what’s been really interesting to me is working with Mattia, that we share the same vision, the same goals we may go around, how we do things slightly differently, but not that differently.”
And when asked directly about what has been the secret to Sauber’s success this season, Wheatley claims Binotto has played a large role in helping the team get back on track.
“I just mentioned Mattia Binotto, so we shouldn’t forget the work that he’s been doing. He’s been here six months longer than I have, maybe a little bit more than that. I think as I sit here today, it’s about six months I’ve been with the team. He’s been putting in place good stuff for a long time before I got here. There are tremendously talented group of people here, and I think what I’ve probably been able to do is add a little direction, a little guidance.
“Maybe change the way we prepare for certain times of the race weekend, maybe our strategy, the way people prepare for that make people create an environment, I hope, or try to create a culture here where people feel confident to suggest something, or try something, or push themselves a little bit too far, and then perhaps, if they make a mistake, that there’s no recrimination from that.
“There’s a learning process that the team tries to learn about it. I think there was a little bit lacking in that area before I joined the team. And I think I keep talking about people, if without people, we’ve just got empty buildings with machines in them and just computer sat and desk. Formula 1 teams are all about the people and there’s an incredibly talented group of people here. We just need to structure the organization properly.”
There is ‘a passion’ for the Audi F1 project
Looking ahead to the future at Audi, Whateley is cautiously optimistic about leading a brand new team from scratch with an entirely different engine to victory on track for the 2026 season but he sees even more passion in the team after a solid 2025 season so far and believes that will translate over to the new team.
“We understand that we’re starting from a humble beginning,” he said. “OK, we have to say that! Our ambition is to be winning races and fighting for championships at the end of the decade. That’s an ambitious target in itself from where we find ourselves today, we’re enjoying where we are in the championship at the moment, we’re enjoying scoring points as a team. There’s more swagger. There’s more confidence.
“I love that. Looking in people’s eyes after the podium at Silverstone was fantastic to see the team believe in themselves. You know, sat there, it’s just another normal race for me, [but] we executed it well. But the passion in the team, and I think there’s a passion that Audi [has]. I’ve had the great fortune to speak to some of the top managers in the business, spend a bit of time with board members. There’s a passion for this project, and I think it’s a totem for Audi.”
And with Audi’s keenness towards electrification, Wheatley expresses just how excited he truly is to embrace a new challenge. “Yeah. I mean, I think I’m too open to change,” he enthuses. “I love change. I get motivated by change. I one of the things that I try to do as a manager is not introduce as much change on a daily basis as I’d like to. I’m constantly holding myself back. But if we look at, if we just look at Audi entering Formula 1, and how exciting this is, you look at the fundamentals of why they chose to enter Formula 1.
“First of all, you’d have to say the budget cap stops it. It’s no longer a space race of spending. You know, you can budget. You can you can communicate that within the group. You can explain it. It’s understandable, and it’s limited and strictly police. And this is, this is a core fundamental. And then there are three pillars of outer century, which are highly efficient, engine advanced hybrid technology and sustainable fuels.
“This is across the road car business. So everything about Formula 1 is a tick box for Audi. That worked, and we find ourselves here launching a complete new Formula 1 works team next year.”
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