Now at the head of Stake Sauber, Jonathan Wheatley wants to breathe into the stable a real top team culture before it takes the name of Audi. But the former Red Bull sports director warns: reaching the top of the discipline will take “Years”.
Less than a year after the announcement of his departure from Red Bull, Jonathan Wheatley officially took office as team director at Sauber, a structure which finished red lantern of the manufacturer’s championship last year and which still occupies this place after the first five Grands Prix in 2025.
Recruited as part of the vast restructuring set up by Audi before his eagerly awaited arrival in F1, the Briton brings with him a rich experience, he who was a key player in the coronations of Renault and Red Bull. And he knows perfectly what should change at Sauber.
“One is based in Switzerland, the other in Milton Keynes”he joked when he was asked about the main differences between Red Bull and Sauber, in an episode of the Podcast Beyond the Grid. “It is really very different. It reminds me when I went from Renault to Red Bull in 2006. There was then an excellent state of mind, but also a well -defined structure of the functioning of a team when it becomes a top team.”
“The way of thinking of a large team is completely different from that of a smaller. The global long -term strategy too: these are radically opposed visions. One of the biggest challenges today is that the number of employees is increasing, but not the workspace. For the moment, many people are piled up in small offices, but a plan of enlargement is in progress.”
“I will also move my own office, and this new campus project will be a strong message sent to the whole team. This will be concrete proof that things are moving forward, that we are really on.”
Jonathan Wheatley, director of the Stake Sauber stable.
Photo of: Sauber
Despite his recruitment campaign, Sauber still has far fewer employees than the stables installed at the top of the hierarchy. However, for Jonathan Wheatley, the most important is not the quantity, but the quality.
“I sincerely believe that a team is worth more than the sum of its members”he pleads. “If the state of mind is good, if the energy is there, if culture is healthy, we can accomplish incredible things and go beyond expectations.”
“I loved working in this type of environment. I have known teams where this dynamic was present every day. And at Sauber, we have to make it the norm in each department, every day. That everyone draws in the same direction. This is why these transformations are not done in six or eight months. It takes years to get there. “
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