INTERVIEW: Jonathan Wheatley on Audi, podiums, and leaving FOS to join Sauber

As an F1 team boss, it would be understandable if being at one of the biggest motorsport events in the world was a little hectic for him, but Wheatley was nothing but enthusiastic. “I can't remember the last year that I wasn't excited about coming here,” he said.

“I've been coming to the Festival for as long as I can remember — I love it. And honestly, it takes about an hour to get from the bottom to the top because of all the friends I bump into.” It isn’t just the people, though. “I'm a car guy,” he stated with a smile on his face. “I love walking around and seeing the cars.”

From the Festival of Speed, conversation turned to his new job at Sauber. Did he ever expect to be in this position? Was that ever an end goal?

“Absolutely not,” Wheatley exclaimed. “Not for a second did I think I’d be sat here doing this. When I started, I thought I’d do it for a couple of years and just tick the box and say ‘I've done Formula 1’. There were legends doing my role at the time — Ron Dennis, Jean Todt, Frank Williams.

“Actually, it's quite a slow career path if you think about it, 34 years to get from there to team principal. I've just enjoyed every single stint that I've spent at a team and then I've been very lucky that I guess my reputation's been good and I've got a phone call — a compelling phone call. You get a few in your life: one of them took me to Red Bull and the other one's brought me here.”

What Wheatley said next we could not have expected. “Actually, it's linked to the Festival because last year, here, in the torrential rain on Sunday, I drove up to Southampton Airport and the private terminal and met Gernot Döllner from Audi. So even my journey to Audi is linked to the Festival of Speed.”

Considering Wheatley had been at Red Bull for nearly two decades, the move to Sauber felt quite natural.  “You speak to people about potential opportunities — it happens a lot,” he explained, “but then suddenly something really clicks. And I really like the balance and the shared responsibilities between Mattia’s role [Binotto, Sauber CTO and COO] and my role.

“The calendar's pretty heavy going — 24 races, double headers, triple headers — and I’m in the factory every day that I'm not at the circuit. But you need to be in the factory every day to be able to make a difference there. And that's why I like the structure. Everything about this Audi F1 project just felt right.”

It’s been just over three months since Wheatley took up his position in Sauber, after a spot of gardening leave following his departure from Red Bull at the end of 2024. A number of recent strong performances have started to look as though positive changes are being made by the Binotto and Wheatley tag team. 

“There's a lot that’s happened in that period, not least ten races. I've tried to listen to as many people, talk to as many people as possible. I think I've still got a lot more of that to do, honestly, before jumping to any conclusions, because some of my initial observations a month ago have changed now.

“Because you need to understand the business, you need to understand how the structures have evolved, why people are doing which jobs. Race team wise, we've got together and we've talked about communication. Certainly, the last three races we've made a big, big step in that area.

“How we go about creating our strategy, the team at the factory and using everyone that's got a contribution to make to that as well, this is getting stronger and stronger. I think it's just continuous improvement. I know this is a lazy term to throw around, but honestly, that's what it's about — constantly building on this momentum that we've got.”

The Austrian Grand Prix at the end of June marked Sauber’s first double points finish since Canada 2022, while Silverstone delivered the team’s first podium since Kamui Kobayashi came home in third in front of a home crowd at Suzuka in 2012. It was also Nico Hülkenberg’s first Formula 1 podium, breaking the unwanted record for the most starts without a podium, at 239 races. 

As it turned out, Silverstone was quite a relaxed race: “I felt like we were having the right conversations, we were asking the driver the right things, we made the right decisions. It all felt very comfortable and normal to be in a podium position for me, you know — it was only really after that where I saw the joy in the team.

“It was like, there must have been a pressure of ‘can we do this?’ People maybe didn't believe that it was even possible. Maybe there was a bit of over exuberance in some of the celebrations, so hopefully that was a one-off. But it was lovely. There was a lot of love in Formula 1 for the team that day.”

What about his main man Hülkenberg that day? “I think it was one of the most outstanding drives I've seen at Silverstone,” said Wheatley, “maybe one of the top ten that I've ever seen in my career. And I think it's easy to forget, he didn't put a wheel wrong all weekend.”

When it comes to transitioning from Sauber to Audi, it’s all about taking it one day, one race at a time.  “At the moment, it's about getting the team in the right form, the right shape, that people understand what's required, where their roles are, where it begins and ends, what decisions they can make, which ones they have to pass up the chain.

“There's so much to do behind the scenes and it's a bit of a knife edge at the moment — there's not the strength and depth right the way through the organisation yet, which you need if you are battling for a World Championship. We're on that journey.

“It [Hülkenberg’s podium] was a massive, significant event, but we have to be humble about it. And then we've got this massive change of technical regulations next year, so it's about getting prepared for that.”

Away from F1, Wheatley’s passion for cars extends to the road. Smiling, he admitted: “I've spent more hours looking at cars online and which one I could buy, which one I could add!

“I had to sell all but one car in the UK when I moved to Switzerland because there's no point having cars sat in the UK if my new life is in Switzerland. I’ve got a 1967 [Porsche] 911, which Richard Tuthill’s done some work on for me with the engine and suspension, and I’m going through the process of getting that type approved for Switzerland at the moment.”

“When I was a kid, I was tremendously excited by the group B Quatros and the Trans-Am cars of that era. And I can remember seeing Jeremy Clarkson's Top Gear on the last 20-valve Quattro, and I wanted one desperately but the price was way beyond anything I could afford.

“So, about a month ago I bought one of those in Switzerland, so I've got an original Quatro as well. But I have very little time to enjoy anything at the moment in terms of car culture and what have you, but I'm hoping in the future I'll add to that collection.

“It’s been very rare that I’ve not had a GT3 [Porsche 911] or a Touring, or an RS in my life. I had a 4.0-litre 997 [GT3] RS, and in the wet that felt bloody quick! And I just sold my 992 RS which was a very, very hard thing to sell. But I had it long enough to do a few track days at Silverstone!”

Could such passion and experience convince Wheatley to do what Gene Haas did at the 2025 Festival of Speed and drive one of his team’s cars up the Hill?

“I’ve driven a McLaren M23 around Monza about 35 years ago, so I don’t know if that qualifies me,” he joked. “There are so many cars within the Audi Tradition collection, I’m very excited about doing something here next year.”

Whatever that is, we’ll be watching with interest at the 2026 Festival of Speed… 

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Goodwood photography by Rob Cooper.