Life in Switzerland was one of the biggest surprises in his new task as a clean team boss, says Jonathan Wheastley in an interview with “Motorsport-Total.com”.
“I love it. We live in Zug, not far from Zurich. We have this great city right on the doorstep, and my wife and I often sit there in the evening and say: ‘My god, that’s not a vacation – that’s our home!'”
Wheatley’s enthusiasm for the Swiss lifestyle is typical for many who move there – even if this does not necessarily correspond to common opinion in Formula 1.
Formula 1 in Switzerland – is that possible?
For years, the widespread narrative has lasted that clean will never be successful because the location is too remote. Only Ferrari and Racing Bulls have their headquarters – surgically – outside of Great Britain.
It would be easy to dismiss this view as arrogant and narrow -minded, but there is a certain logic behind it: Anyone who lives in England in the triangle Oxfordshire -Buckinghamshire -Northamptonshire can switch between teams – or even racing series – without having to move. Hinwil, Maranello and Faenza, on the other hand, require long -term obligations.
This is not for everyone, as it shows that Racing Bulls has set up a technical satellite office on the Red Bull Campus in Milton Keynes and recently opened a similar facility at Bicester. So you can fish for talents in the “Motorsport Valley”, but this is not optimal for team spirit.
The real hurdles at a group entry
“When I got the chance to get in with the Audi project,” says Wheatley, “I concentrated so much on racing and the team that I didn’t think about what life in Switzerland is. I would say it is more than a pleasant surprise.”
For some potential employees, however, a change of a change is an obstacle. Added to this is the fear of history: Large automobile manufacturers often fail when they try to lead a Formula 1 team after cumbersome group structures. An example that combines both problems – location and management – is Toyota.
To date, the Japanese team keeps the unsightly record of having spent the most money in eight seasons without even winning a single win. Many former employees from Cologne reported that the top management was more time to make the corporate headquarters beautiful the disappointing results than to make the cars faster.
There is so many large corporations in the Formula 1 team
Anyone who has ever worked in a large corporation knows the phenomenon: Management creates even more management, and so -called managers endlessly talk about “agile structures”, while mentally formulating a job advertisement for an “top auditor for office clips”.
Another fact: the further a location from the headquarters, the sooner it tends to internal territory fights. This emerged under the previous tour when Audi made Andreas Seidl the managing director in early 2023 and, a little over a year later, Oliver Hoffmann from the post of technology chief the automotive division put into an unclear role in the Formula 1 team.
Against the background of weak performance on the route, there were reports on internal tensions. Both Seidl and Hoffmann were released in July 2024. Ex -ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto – in a double function as manager and technology manager – as well as Wheatley as team leader. However, Wheatley only started at the third season of 2025 because he was previously occupied with a blocking period.
How Gernot Döller pushes the Formula 1 project
The driving force behind these personal details was Audi CEO Gernot Döllner. As early as January 2024, it was said that Döllner was dissatisfied with technical progress in the road division and wool Hoffmann. When Hoffmann changed too clean in March – at the same time as Audi’s decision to take over the team completely – it looked like a strange move.
The whole thing was a textbook example for the risks when a car manufacturer gets into Formula 1: a top manager is removed from the board, receives a sham position in the racing team, but tries to make a real power base out of it – which leads to power struggles and layoffs. Then new leadership – and the game starts again.
When Döllner stood next to Binotto at the Italy Grand Prix and said: “It is completely clear to us that we have to keep this project away from corporate processes,” many journalists turned their eyes.
What experience wheatley brings too clean/Audi
The question was whether Binotto and Wheatley could actually work in peace or whether personnel consequences would quickly follow again if unsuccessful. It was noteworthy that no further layoffs followed despite the weak start of the season – and the results improved.
Wheatley had previously worked on Benetton/Renault and Red Bull. Organizations that managed to connect entrepreneurial independence with a group in the back. So he knows how to move in this environment.
“Of course there are methods that you have to take over,” he says. “Audi gets to know us, we get to know Audi. Gernot Döllner described us as a speedboat that is on the road in the Formula 1 area-our field. We have the full support of the board. This is fantastic. And I really enjoy our current way of working.”
“If you see why Mattia and I are sitting here now, you can imagine that we have had a lot of conversations. But it was above all this inspiring approach that Gernot presented to me twelve months ago, which is why I am here today.”
“These people are very, very clever. They know exactly that you cannot use all of the corporate philosophies here. But we still represent the brand – and the most important thing is that we represent them correctly.”
It works without “expensive superstars”
In Woking, Andrea Stella has shown at McLaren that an existing team can also be significantly improved with existing employees – without buying expensive “superstars”. McLaren Red Bull’s chief technology chief Rob Marshall as chief designer, but above all because of his ability to convey between departments. David Sanchez came from Ferrari, but went again when he did not get the hoped -for role.
Aston Martin has already hired and released a top technician – without any noteworthy progress. Under the leadership of an impatient billionaire, the team seems to be in an eternal “transition phase”.
Wheatley says that he has to get to know Sauber’s structures better before he adds bigger changes. However, he knows that the permanent hiring of external top people quickly creates the feeling of not being valued enough.
“There has to be a balance,” he says. “Some areas quickly need new leadership, but so far there have been many of them since I am here. And we have to promote talents in our own house. If we want to be a real factory team with strength and depth, we have to hire, train and convey young people to Audi’s Formula 1 philosophy.”
“We have to develop our own talents – and we are on the right track. Mattia started very interesting young programs in engineering, and I feel that the team is getting the curve.”
In view of the fact that cleanly on the past six race weekends always scored before the summer break, this can hardly be contradicted.