Sauber CEO Mattia Binotto has praised the “competence and skills” as well as the “big experience” of Team Principal Jonathan Wheatley as it prepares to transition into Audi in Formula 1.
The Hinwil-based squad will depart F1 after 32 years at the end of this season, turning into Audi’s first-ever venture into F1.
Despite a breadth of success in multiple forms of motor racing, Audi has been out of Grand Prix racing since the pre-war Auto Union days of the 1930s.
Sauber’s long-awaited F1 debut will come next season, keeping the same Swiss base and its personnel, with Binotto and Wheatley retaining their roles, and with Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto set to remain in the drivers’ seats.
Wheatley has a plethora of experience in F1, having been a chief mechanic at Benetton, Renault and then rising through the ranks at Red Bull to become its Sporting Director, before making the switch to Sauber formally this year.
In an interview with The Race, Binotto heaped praise on Wheatley, and said that the similarity to his and the Briton’s backgrounds in F1 is a bonus for the team’s potential progression.
“His help is huge thanks to not only the competence and skills, but the big experience he has,” he said.
“We both have had a parallel path into F1, very similar experience, racetrack, mainly, I think we have the same understanding on what’s about. We have the same understanding of what’s required and where the gaps are.
“So we even do not discuss much between us, because I think it’s really one world that we understand.”
Binotto keen to create ‘one team spirit’ despite two HQs
As the project transitions from Sauber to Audi, the German marque is effectively a lodger in Sauber’s property, as it were.
But they will take full ownership of the Hinwil base in Switzerland once the team is up and running under its own name
Earlier this year, Wheatley himself talked about boosting the mentality of the team, knowing exactly what it takes to create one with Red Bull, and how an “expansion plan” is already underway as the number of personnel grows.
Binotto has doubled down on this mindset, saying Audi want to “create really the one team, the one team spirit and the one team sense,” adding: “At the moment, it’s two different companies, two different sites, and two different locations.”
“I don’t think it’s a matter of making it more difficult,” he said. “It’s a matter of turning it into an advantage, because at the end, a big corporate like Audi can certainly support our projects, because there is a lot of resources.
“Whenever they decide that something needs to be achieved, they will put everything in place that’s achievable.”
The decision to stay in Hinwil comes despite Audi’s Competence Center Motorsport being located in Neuberg, the base which helped it become winners in Formula E and Rally Raid.
But Binotto is unconcerned, citing Red Bull’s previous happy and successful relationship with Honda as an example.
“There are teams which are proven that you can win, having an engine in Japan, and a chassis in England. So I don’t think that’s an obstacle.
“Certainly the closer you are better it is. But as I said, there are things that have proven that is not necessary. So instead, it’s only for us three and a half hours drive. So we are pretty close.
“At the end, it’s the same company. We have teams producing both chassis and the engine. So myself feeding both organisations should give us an advantage.”
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