Controversial resignations
At Audi, this break of over a month from racing in April – generated by the cancellations of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian GPs due to the ongoing war in the Persian Gulf – was probably welcomed positively. The Hinwil team must indeed reorganize after the surprising and controversial resignation of team principal Jonathan Wheatley, who officially left the team for personal reasons but who, according to some background reports, had conflicts with the head of the Audi F1 project, Mattia Binotto. The former Ferrari team principal has denied this reconstruction, saying that Wheatley was “well integrated” into the team.
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Certainly, however, it remains to be seen how the German team will be managed during the season. Originally, the possible market search by Audi for a new team principal had been hypothesized, but in reality this possibility seems to have been discarded by Binotto himself. The Italian-Swiss manager had already spoken to journalists in Japan, saying that he could maintain control of the team while also holding the role of team principal. ‘Full powers’ that should not be too surprising, also recalling the final part of Binotto’s Ferrari period, when he had tried to shape the team completely according to his wishes, leading to clashes with various figures within Maranello.
One man alone in power, but with an assistant
The only opening Binotto himself made is for a person to support him on track and replace him in the races where he will not be present at the circuit: the priority of the 56-year-old engineer born in Lausanne will indeed be primarily the development and growth of the team’s factory: “For the future, I think we are not looking for a new team principal – commented the person concerned – I will keep the role, but I will need someone to support me during race weekends, because I won’t always be able to be present in person. I have to focus mainly on the factory, where there is more need to transform, I would say, not just to develop, but to actually transform. So, certainly, support is needed during race weekends“.
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A name that has recently emerged for this ‘support’ is that of Allan McNish, a former driver and long-time loyal collaborator of Audi, who was one of the very first to be involved in the F1 project when it was announced four years ago.
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