Audi AG CEO Gernot Döllner and recently appointed COO and CTO of Sauber, Mattia Binotto spoke during the Italian Grand Prix weekend about the upcoming F1 Audi project. Döllner called the management combination of Binotto and Jonathan Wheatley the “perfect solution” whilst Binotto said he was about to undertake the most challenging project of his professional life.
Last month, Sauber Motorsport, the Audi F1 factory team from 2026 onwards, announced the future appointment of Jonathan Wheatley as Team Principal ‘at the latest from halfway in the 2025 season’. In this role, Wheatley will join Binotto, to form a pairing that will lead the management team at Sauber Motorsport. Binotto and Wheatley will report directly to Döllner in his role as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Sauber Motorsport AG. In Monza, it was explained as to how there will be a clear division of duties but they will jointly take responsibility for the success of the racing team.
As COO and CTO, Binotto is responsible for the operative management of Sauber Motorsport AG at the site in Hinwil and the technical development of the future racing cars. Meanwhile, by July 2025 at the latest, Wheatley will complete Audi’s new management team for Formula One in the role of Team Principal and management spokesperson. He will focus above all on the racing performance of the future F1 factory team, on operational management of all race events, and on representing Audi at Team Principal level in matters relating to Formula One.
Audi has a long-term commitment to Formula One which was clearly demonstrated earlier this year when the supervisory boards of Volkswagen AG and Audi took the decision to completely get control of the Sauber shares. It was said that by the first quarter of 2025 they will be ‘100% in charge of Sauber.’ Döllner explained how as he is now chairman of the board of directors of Sauber Motorsport AG he will “personally involve” himself into the team’s Formula One project “more intensively”.
Binotto and Wheatley replace Andreas Seidl and Oliver Hoffman, who had been running the Hinwil project. Döllner reflected on what the new members of the team will bring.
“With this, we believe, very future-oriented set up with a strong dual leadership team, one taking care of the operations with the project and the car, and the other one handling our operations on the race track and being the spokesperson. We believe that we found a perfect solution for our future operations.”
Döllner also explained why he chose to bring Binotto onboard: “Mattia is to me, the perfect fit to our team with his 30-year experience. He knows how it feels to win. He has experience in different roles. And so together with Jonathan, who will join later, we believe that we have a perfect constellation to see where we are right now, and really to create a set-up, an organisation, technological aspects, to develop that plan that brings us to the top in the future.”
Following this, Binotto was asked for his first impression of the project and his motivation behind signing on to it: “I’m really thankful for the opportunity. I think that it’s a great challenge. It’s a great ambition. It’s very fascinating. I’m pretty sure it’s today the most fascinating challenge in F1.”
Binotto also explained that having spent so many years at Ferrari, Audi was the only team he would have hoped to join because of what it represents – not only the challenge but the brand itself.
The popular Italian then amused the journalists in attendance as he quipped that when he graduated 30 years ago, Audi was his first letter of application: “And finally thanks to the board, to the support of the board and the CEO of Audi. I got finally my feedback and my answer, so I’m thankful.”
Then on a more serious note, Binotto explained how he had been convinced by the project because he had been convinced by the people.
“I’ve been convinced by the resources it’s got available.” Binotto continued. “And I’ve been convinced by the board and the commission. Because I know that there is the support of the full brand and the full corporate. And that was for me the most important. It took a couple of days for the call and to decide. That’s really a matter of fact. No discussion, because I think when you go to the elements in there, there is no discussion which is needed. And it does not really take long. It was really an immediate decision.”
However, the man set to steer Audi’s ship before Wheatley can officially come onboard made effort to highlight how this is a long-term project and it will take several years to become successful.
“We’ve got a clear intention, objectives ahead of us to become a winning team. But certainly there is much to do. I think that’s the first feedback. We are competing against teams like ours. Since many years in Formula 1, the big organisations settled down. It’s not our case. We need to ramp up in terms of people, in terms of organisation, in terms of tools, process, methodologies, facilities. We need to merge certainly what we are doing in Hinwil together with what we are doing in Neuburg on the powertrain. And it’s about, as well, culture and mindset. Because to become a winning team, it’s about changing our mindset towards what is required. And there are great people there. I think that it’s a real business transformation.”
Binotto also made reference to the fact that it took Mercedes and Red Bull several years to find success and he then stated: “I think that’s what we are facing now.”
When Audi first announced that they were going to come to Formula 1, they spoke about winning in three years. However, following the comments from Binotto that it would now take several years, Döllner was asked if Audi had underestimated the task ahead and if so, what led to the recalibration of the teams?
“As I mentioned, we see our Formula 1 project as a long-term project.” replied Audi AG’s CEO. “After I joined Audi in September of last year, we did an evaluation of our project. It ended up with the setup we found. Also, we maybe recalibrated our time pass to a more realistic one. We can’t tell details as we are still, as Mattia’s mentioned, discussing several aspects of how to sort out. But I think we are quite realistic when it comes to time.”
Döllner later added: “We are aware that it will be a several-year programme. We started the discussion how ambitious we can be, but we haven’t finished that discussion. And so we will have that in the upcoming month, and after re-evaluation of the actual management team, and then come with that information later.”
With Wheatley also joining later, Binotto clarified as to what his role would be until then.
“I think there are no secrets. We need to bridge from now to maybe July next year. Certainly, what will become Jonathan’s responsibilities for racing activities, the race track is something which I was used to doing in the past. I will certainly organise myself with an extra effort. I will try to cover it in the meantime. But we will, as well, organise ourselves and the race tracks in a way that there will be some responsibility which we support. Maybe myself not being present at all races…because the focus is, at the moment, I am priority back at the factories, where I think we need to tackle the most.”
Obviously, Sauber at present sit bottom of the Constructors’ Championship on zero points. Clearly, the focus is very much on building foundations for the future but how important is the current performance and do things need to step up this year and next year. With this in mind the question was posed as to whether Sauber can afford two seasons of being at the back – before the reset in 2026?
“Certainly not.” came the reply from Binotto. “We cannot afford it. I think this is the team that has to become, in the future, the winning team. And the only way to do that is starting, moving up, progressing. We need to train our muscles for the future. So, yes, I think we need certainly to improve. That’s important for ourselves. That’s important for the team. It’s important for the brand. It’s important for our partners.”
He then went on to explain how Sauber need to balance all the priorities and their efforts from the short to the medium and the long term. The new men in charge called the team’s current position as painful and that: “It’s a team that needs to do continuous progress each single day, step by step. So, starting from as soon as possible.”
Binotto clearly cannot wait to get started and he certainly has the pedigree to have the answers needed. Döllner describes his management team as the perfect solution but it is a solution to a puzzle that will take time to solve. Whether Wheatley and Binotto are given the necessary time to achieve their goals will of course not be known for many years to come. However, as starting positions go they are certainly well placed for the challenge ahead and it will be intriguing to see how the coming seasons proceed.
