Latest news with #AudiF1
Top Gear
7 days ago
- Automotive
- Top Gear
Sauber's Jonathan Wheatley on the Audi F1 project: "we're not messing around"
As F1 heads into its summer break, TG catches up with Jonathan Wheatley on all things Sauber Jonathon Wheatley, Sauber F1's smiley silver fox and team principal, must be heading into Formula One's summer break with more of a spring in his step – or at least some confidence. He's one of the sport's most respected operators – fluent in the language of racing, pit stops, strategy, and the fine art of team building. He's also one of us: a proper car nut, with a garage full of gems. Plus a CV that stretches from spannering in the junior categories to calling the shots in the most high-pressure sporting environment on Earth. He left Red Bull to take on something bigger, messier, and far riskier: leading Kick Sauber F1 through the final years of its independent life and transforming it into Audi's first works Formula One team in 2026. As we enter the break, the team that's set to become Audi F1 next year has 51 points – 47 more than it had at the end of last year, when it came stone cold last with just four – a whole 664 fewer than championship winners McLaren. So, halfway through the season, Sauber's currently seventh in the constructors' championship, one point behind Aston Martin and ahead of Racing Bulls, Haas and Alpine. That's progress. With a season-best sixth for Gabriel Bortoleto in Hungary and Nico Hülkenberg hustling himself onto the podium at the British Grand Prix before that (the team's first podium since Kamui Kobayashi in 2012), there seems to be tangible forward motion. The podium wasn't a one-off flash in the pan. Apparently this year has been about shedding old weaknesses as well as chasing new strengths. Last season, Sauber had the dubious distinction of being the slowest team in the pitlane – repeatedly hamstrung by hardware issues that saw wheel nuts cross-threaded and stops drag on into double-digit seconds. In 2024, they suffered the ignominy of a 31.18-second stop for Valtteri Bottas and a 20.20-second stop for Zhou Guanyu. Now, just a year later, they've taken the DHL Fastest Pit Stop Award at the Spanish Grand Prix – 2.13 seconds for a full tyre change on Bortoleto's car. That transformation is apparently no accident. It's a product of a 'monumental' effort back in Hinwil and at the track. Jonathan Wheatley – in collaboration with Mattia Binotto, chief operating and chief technical officer at Sauber Motorsport – has been leading the transformation. But we thought we'd catch up with him before he put his flip-flops on and headed to the beach for a well-earned break, to talk about racing success, engineering challenges, cultural shifts and one of his real loves – road cars. Oh, and his pug, who rides shotgun in his Porsche: Lola. TG: Let's start at Silverstone. First podium for the team in 12 years, Nico's first in his career – that must have felt pretty special? JW: It was an extraordinary experience. I've been with teams and won championships, I've been with teams and won races for the first time. But the sheer joy in the team was something wonderful, something I really, really enjoyed being a part of. It was kind of like an outpouring of… I guess there's been this build-up of... can we do it'? Are we capable of doing it? And the team delivered a brilliant team effort. Did it change the belief in the garage? Since I joined in April, you can feel the momentum gathering inside the team. The communication's getting better, the structures are getting a little bit more refined and it's feeling every bit like we're on a journey now. We've taken the first step there, but it's a race at a time. I'm not expecting us to be getting a podium every weekend. You swapped Red Bull for Sauber. What are the biggest cultural differences, and what were you expecting? I had a pretty good idea of what to expect. I've had friends at Sauber for years. It's not like I didn't know anything about the team. I've had very, very long friendships with people from there. But ultimately, if you're a racer and you're in a racing team, there's a shared vision, there's a shared goal. It feels like a racing team. That's just how it is in its bones.
News.com.au
24-07-2025
- Automotive
- News.com.au
2025 Audi e-tron RS GT review
Do you want to experience what it's like to launch off the Formula 1 grid, feel the sensation of speed and power as the landscape turns into a blur? Well, you have two choices – the first is to become one of the 20 best racing drivers in the world, which takes decades of hard work and millions of dollars. The second option is to buy the new Audi RS e-tron GT Performance. This is the new flagship performance vehicle of the German brand's line-up, arriving, quite fittingly, as Audi prepares to enter F1 in 2026 for the first time. But while the new Audi F1 car will be powered by a hybrid powertrain that will combine petrol and electric power, the new RS e-tron Performance is all-electric. But don't let that fool you, this is the most powerful production car ever Audi has ever offered in its long history of powerful performance cars. The new hero model of the three-pronged e-tron GT range makes a staggering 680kW of power and 1027Nm of torque in launch mode. What does that actually mean, for those who don't speak the language of car nerds? Well, that's enough power and torque for the RS e-tron GT Performance to launch 0-100km/h in just 2.5 seconds, which is about the same time it takes an F1 car to do so. Which does help to put its $309,900 (plus on-road costs) price tag into perspective. MORE: Huge change coming to Aussie roads There is a more affordable RS e-tron GT for $264,900 with a slightly more modest 630kW/865Nm, or the $209,900 'entry-level' S e-tron GT with its 500kW/717Nm. But for those who want the best, then the new 'Performance' version is the only choice. Audi has pulled out all the stops for this latest model, even raiding the Lamborghini catalogue for parts. Specifically a new trim Audi calls 'matt carbon camouflage' but was developed for the Italian supercar brand as 'forged carbon'. It's available as part of a $10,000 optional styling package that gives the RS e-tron GT Performance a raft of parts made from the unique material, to really make the hero model stand out. But it's not what you see that makes this car so special, it's the parts below the surface. As impressive as its acceleration is, it's what's underneath the surface that makes it so great to drive. Audi has loaded the e-tron GT with the full array of chassis, suspension, steering and braking technology it has in its arsenal. That means active suspension, all-wheel steering, carbide-coated brakes (with optional ceramic brakes). Active suspension is a technology with its roots in F1, back in the late 1980s and early '90s F1 teams worked out how to program their cars to adjust its suspension specifically to each corner, allowing them to corner flatter and faster. Obviously that's easier on a racetrack where you know which corners are coming up, but it's a lot more complex for the road. That's why the Audi system uses an array of cameras, radars and sensors to 'read' the road ahead of it and adjust the suspension in a fraction of a second to make for a more comfortable ride. But the truth is, you don't need to understand how it works, just that it does. The RS e-tron GT is one of the most comfortable performance electric cars this reviewer has ever experienced, and crucially it doesn't come at the expense of sharp, responsive handling. Thanks to the all-wheel steering (that allows the rear wheels to turn the same direction as the front wheels above 80km/h) the e-tron GT changes direction with the precision you'd expect from an F1 car too. Where the Audi is very much different from an F1 car is inside, where the e-tron GT can take not only the driver but also four passengers as well. And does so in comfort and style, with Audi once again producing a class-leading cabin with a blend of technology and tradition.
News.com.au
10-06-2025
- Automotive
- News.com.au
2026 Formula 1 calendar: Australia to open the season, Imola out, Madrid in
Australia's world title leader Oscar Piastri will again kick-start his 2026 campaign on home soil chasing a maiden Australian Grand Prix victory after Albert Park was confirmed as the opening race of next year's Formula 1 calendar. The FIA and Formula 1 released the 24-race 2026 calendar on Tuesday with the Melbourne race locked again in as the season opener on March 6-8. The season will conclude with the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on December 6 and there is one major change to the calendar with Madrid (September 11-13) making its debut on the schedule and Imola has dropped off. Australia returned to its traditional slot as the season-opening race this year for the first time since 2019 after losing its spot during the Covid pandemic. Leading the 2025 world championship standings, Piastri will again chase his first Australian Grand Prix win next year after finishing ninth at Albert Park this year. Piastri sits 10 points clear of his McLaren teammate Lando Norris after winning five of the opening nine races. While all eyes will be on McLaren star and hometown hero Piastri, the season-opening race will also feature the debut of the Cadillac F1 team as the 11th team on the grid and the Audi F1 Team after its acquisition of current team Sauber and the introduction of new regulations. '(The) 2026 (season) will be a new era for Formula 1 where we will witness a brand-new set of regulations for our sport, the cars and the engines that will be powered by 100% sustainable fuel,' president and CEO of Formula 1, Stefano Domenicali, said. 'We are excited to welcome Madrid to the calendar, and to see huge automotive brands like Audi, Cadillac and Ford join the Formula 1 grid.' The Chinese Grand Prix will immediately follow the Australian race in a double-header, before the season moves to a stand-alone race in Japan. The Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grand Prix will once again be held in April due to Ramadan being observed throughout February and March. In date alterations to the F1 calendar, the Canadian Grand Prix will now follow Miami in an earlier slot on May 22-24 to help with the 'geographical flow' of races. The change creates a consolidated European leg, which will start with the Monaco Grand Prix on June 5-7 and will finish in Madrid. The calendar then returns to Asia with the Azerbaijan and Singapore Grands Prix, ahead of a triple header in the Americas, before Las Vegas, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi once again close out the season.
Daily Mirror
18-05-2025
- Automotive
- Daily Mirror
Inside Sauber's Audi F1 transformation as new boss opens up in new interview
Jonathan Wheatley sat down with Mirror Sport at Imola to discuss his first six weeks in charge, how the transformation to Audi is going and gave the inside track on Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg This weekend's Imola race marks 600 appearances in Formula 1 for Sauber. And, yet, the team finds itself once again at the very beginning of its story. A rebirth will take place next year, as the Switzerland-based outfit slowly turns into the Audi works team. It marks the first time the world-famous German carmaker has entered in F1. And preparations have been ongoing for years now, since long before the public announcement at the 2022 Belgian Grand Prix that Audi had decided to grab a slice of the pie. Plenty of things have already changed. Hinwil, near Zurich, will continue to be home to the outfit, but engines are being designed and built in Neuburg, Germany, while a satellite base is planned for the UK later this year to leave, of all the teams on the grid, only Ferrari without a presence in 'Motorsport Valley'. And then there's the top personnel. Jonathan Wheatley joined as team principal in April this year, after almost two decades as a key player in the success of Red Bull Racing, while a recent restructure saw former Ferrari chief Mattia Binotto named head of Audi's F1 project. "Very clearly, we're going to look like a very different team from the moment the garage doors open next year," Wheatley told Mirror Sport at Imola. If that includes from a performance perspective, then that will be very welcome. Last year was a chastening experience for the most part and saw Sauber score just four points, when Zhou Guanyu finished eighth in Qatar – the penultimate race of the 2024 season. They have already bettered that tally with the six points scored by Nico Hulkenberg on the opening day in Melbourne. But still Sauber sit bottom of the constructors' championship with 18 rounds still to go in what looks set to be another transition year before the Audi era officially begins. Despite that, Wheatley seems convinced that he won't have to work too hard to keep staff motivated. He said: "I ask myself, how do I keep motivated, how do I keep pushing forwards? If you look at this Audi F1 project, I mean, honestly, is there a better news story in sport full-stop at the moment? Is there a more exciting project to be a part of? Everyone should be excited, it's a great brand, this is a great team with a great history that we're celebrating this weekend. "It's an exciting time, honestly, so you just have to look at the future, you have to relentlessly look at continuous improvement, you have to relentlessly look to the positives and feel those incremental changes as they come along and just continuously improve. And then I think the focus is so far forwards, what's happening at the moment is just, you know, happening." One key decision already made is who the first Audi drivers in F1 will be. Nico Hulkenberg was signed early in 2024, having enjoyed a very successful return to the sport with Haas, and it was later confirmed that he would be joined by rookie Formula 2 champion Gabriel Bortoleto, after they missed out on top target Carlos Sainz. "I'm completely comfortable with our driver selection," said Wheatley, who joined after both had already been signed. "They work brilliantly together, they look each other in the eye, they have a great relationship with each other. Gabi is like an open book, he's trying whatever he can to learn." Hulkenberg is not a bad driver to learn from at all. Sunday's Imola race will be his 234th start in F1 making him the third most experienced driver on the grid behind only Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton. Assuming he sees out his Audi contract, which runs for now until the end of 2026, he will break into the top 10 of drivers with the most race starts in history. 'I've known Nico for a long time... I've always liked him from the very beginning, actually, as a character, as a person, the way he's presented himself," said Wheatley. "That time he turned up in Covid and just jumped in a Formula 1 car. When he jumped in at Le Mans and won. He's an extraordinary talent – we don't need to talk about that. "But what he's doing here is being a mentor for Gabi in many ways. On one side you've got this tremendous experience, also this incredibly level-headed approach. And Gabi's learning from that. "I really think we've got an incredibly strong driver pairing in that respect. We've got all of the experience and proven speed of Nico, plus we've got this raw talent in Gabriel, who's learning from the right side and with a tremendous work ethic. The team is benefiting as a result." Bortoleto has yet to score a point since stepping up to F1, but the general consensus is that he is a promising young driver who has not yet been given a car in which he can show what he can do. "Hopefully we'll have a car soon where we can do him justice," Wheatley said, adding that the Brazilian driver is "not at all" being judged on the number of points he scores this year. "I think our car's capable of Q2 and I think hopefully we can prove that. I think with Gabriel, you're just going to see more and more and more come out of him in terms of performance. "But more than that, the way he can read a race, he has that capacity in the car to be able to read the race, look at the situations, look at the timing, look at the video screens. And that's a great sign, isn't it? All the great drivers are capable of doing that. It's either natural or not." It's not necessary to ask what the long-term aim for the Audi project is – the answer would be the same for every team up and down the grid. They are all licking their lips at the prospect of using the 2026 rule changes to fast-track their progress to the front of the grid, though the reality remains that someone still has to finish last. Everyone at Sauber is a bit fed up of doing that, and Audi have an excellent record when it comes to success in every form of motorsport they have ever entered. "Our goal is ambitious but clear. We're not here to mess around – we're here to win races and win world championships," said Wheatley. "We need to put ourselves on that path. We need to, as Audi have it every time they've entered any form of motorsport, do it slightly differently to everyone else, and we're looking at ways of doing it differently because we know we've got a very ambitious target, you know, and we need to deliver on it. "So we're trying to straighten the corners and find the shortest route there. But as I've said at the beginning, we're not underestimating the task and there's no arrogance or ego here. We know what we're up against and we're going to be pragmatic and we're going to make the steps we need to make to get there." "I am genuinely tremendously excited about what we can achieve. I've seen so many things that we can do differently already and it's a case of just getting on that journey and getting the team on the journey there. The difficult thing would be if the team wasn't ready to change or wasn't looking to change, but there is, there's a capacity to and there's an energy to."
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Audi announces second management restructure
Audi has restructured the management of its Formula 1 team for the second time in less than a year before its official appearance on the grid next season. Mattia Binotto, previously chief operating and technical officer, has been made head of Audi F1 project, while chief executive officer Adam Baker has left the company. A spokesperson for Audi said the move made the structure of engine and chassis departments "clearer and streamlined". Binotto joined Audi in July last year in a reorganisation that removed its former F1 chief executive officer Andreas Seidl, who had been recruited from McLaren, where he was team principal, at the end of 2022. The spokesperson said that, with Binotto in place, it became apparent over time that the CEO role had "become obsolete". The Audi project is split over two sites. The power-unit base is in Neuburg an der Donau in Germany and the car design and manufacturing base - currently competing in F1 as Sauber under Audi ownership - is in Hinwil in Switzerland. Audi will formally enter F1 in 2026, when new engine rules that attracted the company come into force. These increase the amount of power provided by the electrical component of the engine to about 50%. The company is also looking for a base in England in which to house a small part of the design team so Audi can tap into the expertise in the so-called "motorsport valley" in south-east England. The responsibilities of Binotto and team principal Jonathan Wheatley will not change under the new structure. Binotto is in overall charge of chassis and engine design and manufacture, while Wheatley runs the team once the car leaves the factory for races. Wheatley was recruited from Red Bull, where he had been sporting director, and began work at Sauber at the third race of this season, the Japanese Grand Prix last month. Audi has also appointed a new chief operating officer, Christian Foyer, to take over the responsibilities on the engine side previously held by Baker.
