{"id":859033,"date":"2025-06-30T07:13:02","date_gmt":"2025-06-30T12:13:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/30\/who-slept-best-last-night-jonathan-wheatley\/"},"modified":"2025-06-30T07:13:02","modified_gmt":"2025-06-30T12:13:02","slug":"who-slept-best-last-night-jonathan-wheatley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/30\/who-slept-best-last-night-jonathan-wheatley\/","title":{"rendered":"Who slept best last night:\u00a0Jonathan Wheatley\u00a0\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

Football <\/p>\n

\n

I still remember it vividly \u2013 exactly one year ago, I walked through the paddock at the Austrian Grand Prix<\/a> and made my way into the Sauber<\/a> hospitality area. There I encountered Oliver Hoffmann, then head of Audi\u2019s Formula 1 project \u2013 though he seemed far more preoccupied with former German national team footballer Maximilian Arnold and his entourage than with anything else.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Even back then, I found myself wondering: is that really the right focus and strategy for a young, essentially brand-new team? To use the glitz of the undeniably glamorous Formula 1 world to entertain celebrity guests \u2013 footballers from Audi-owned VfL Wolfsburg, in this case \u2013 instead of concentrating on racing?<\/p>\n

Sure, Red Bull does it too. Especially during its home race weekend in Spielberg, where this time even Jurgen Klopp showed up \u2013 and cheekily claimed Racing Bulls<\/a> CEO Peter Bayer\u2019s chair just before the start of the race.<\/p>\n

A year ago, Oliver Hoffmann was something like the Jurgen Klopp of the Audi-Sauber project. With his beard and \u2013 at least before the full makeover of the marketing icon for Mainz, Dortmund, Liverpool and now Fuschl \u2013 even glasses, there was a certain visual resemblance to Klopp. But, when it came to success, the two couldn’t have been further apart.<\/p>\n

At the time, Sauber sat dead last in the cConstructors\u2019 championship \u2013 with zero points. Perhaps that’s one reason Red Bull, after a string of victories and titles, manages to wear the celebrity sparkle a little more convincingly. And why Hoffmann, just days after that scene, was already history.<\/p>\n

\"Football <\/picture>\n

Andreas Seidl, CEO, Stake F1 Team, in the garage<\/p>\n

Photo by: Andy Hone \/ Motorsport Images<\/p>\n<\/section>\n

In his fall, he also took down the man I had actually come to meet that day in the hospitality suite: then-Sauber CEO Andreas Seidl. Seidl became the scapegoat in the power struggle surrounding Hoffmann \u2013 a battle from which no one emerged unscathed.<\/p>\n

Seidl, it must be said, had been operating under heavy constraints. Audi\u2019s full takeover of the team dragged on for ages. And even once it was finalised, the German didn\u2019t yet have the financial resources he needed and couldn\u2019t distribute the money where it was most needed, which meant he simply couldn\u2019t act as freely as he would have liked. And then there was Hoffmann, always playing the know-it-all counterpart.<\/p>\n

In the end, Audi didn\u2019t even bother to dissect who had made what mistakes, or who bore what responsibilities. It simply cut both men loose \u2013 classic big-corporation politics \u2013 and installed what they claimed was a better solution. First Mattia Binotto, then shortly afterward, Jonathan Wheatley. Two high-calibre names from two high-calibre teams in Ferrari<\/a> and Red Bull respectively.<\/p>\n

Binotto, of course, had previously served as team principal at Ferrari \u2013 a\u00a0role that surprised many at the time, given that he is first and foremost a brilliant technician and may not have been ideally placed in his last position with the Scuderia. Wheatley, on the other hand, was highly successful at Red Bull as sporting director, the brain on the pit wall and not the man in the spotlight.<\/p>\n

That changed with his move to the ambitious Audi project and his new role as team principal. Now, after roughly half a season, the personnel overhaul finally seems to be bearing fruit. The last time both Sauber drivers scored points was in Qatar back in 2023 when, curiously enough, both drivers also finished\u00a0in eighth and ninth.<\/p>\n

\"Football <\/picture>\n

Gabriel Bortoleto, Kick Sauber, Mattia Binotto, COO and CTO of Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber and Jonathan Wheatley, Team Principal of Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber<\/p>\n

Photo by: Andy Hone \/ Motorsport Images<\/p>\n<\/section>\n

While Wheatley\u2019s two drivers stormed into the points, those of his former team Red Bull did not and broke a streak of 77 consecutive points finishes. And whenever things at Red Bull go wrong these days, especially things that used to run like clockwork, Wheatley\u2019s name tends to come up.<\/p>\n

Together with Adrian Newey, he may well be the man Red Bull misses the most. And given the team\u2019s year-long dip in form \u2013 some even suspect it could mark a longer-term decline ahead of the 2026 regulation overhaul \u2013 not even the often superhuman performances of Max Verstappen<\/a> are enough to fully paper over the cracks.<\/p>\n

With persistent rumours linking the reigning world champion to Mercedes<\/a>, and with Christian Horner still seemingly busy managing the fallout of the scandal surrounding his very own person that rocked the team\u2019s foundations, Wheatley has left all that behind \u2013 and perhaps made all the right moves.<\/p>\n

Recent updates, especially to the car\u2019s floor, have clearly made an impact. Sauber\u2019s third consecutive points finish suggests the first green shoots of something promising are beginning to sprout between Hinwil and Neuburg an der Donau. What\u2019s more, with the new leadership duo in place, power seems much more evenly distributed than it was during the Hoffmann\u2013Seidl era.<\/p>\n

Binotto now focuses on interfacing with the parent company and senior Audi leadership, such as CEO Gernot Dollner \u2013 something he\u2019s clearly better suited for than his predecessor, given his insider knowledge of the sport. He\u2019s also hands-on with technical developments, naturally, as he is a technician by training, after all.<\/p>\n

\"Football <\/picture>\n

Nico Hulkenberg, Sauber, Gabriel Bortoleto, Sauber<\/p>\n

Photo by: Andy Hone \/ LAT Images via Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/section>\n

Meanwhile, Wheatley can devote himself to the sporting core of the business \u2013 working calmly with the team in Hinwil to improve the tools at their disposal, from the simulator to the factory itself, which is finally being modernised after years of aging infrastructure.<\/p>\n

This, by the way, had also been flagged by Seidl \u2013 though he had lacked the means to address it. Wheatley, it seems, has had better luck and far better timing. In fact, he\u2019s benefiting from some of Seidl\u2019s long-laid groundwork.<\/p>\n

Take, for example, the signing of Nico Hulkenberg<\/a>. That became evident again this weekend in Spielberg: Audi\u2019s driver lineup looks genuinely well put together. Alongside the experienced veteran, whose contract had been signed by Seidl, the team added reigning Formula 2 champion Gabriel Bortoleto<\/a> at the end of last season.<\/p>\n

While the local tabloids were loudly campaigning for Mick Schumacher<\/a> to get that second Audi seat \u2013 and others were urging Sauber to stick with the rather underperforming Valtteri Bottas<\/a> \u2013 the decision made six months ago has now proven spot-on.<\/p>\n

Hulkenberg had already shown at Haas that he can push a team forward. Bortoleto, meanwhile, is a rising star who\u2019s not just keeping up with the rest of the rookie class \u2013 \u00a0he\u2019s outperforming many, as his standout Spielberg weekend made abundantly clear.<\/p>\n

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