Jonathan Wheatley (Audi) encouraged by the team cohesion displayed by his squad

Along with Cadillac, Audi is one of the two new racing teams to arrive in Formula 1 in 2026. While the German manufacturer has relied on the Sauber team, whose entire structure it acquired in recent years, the four-ring brand arrives in F1 with an in-house engine, whereas the American brand can benefit from the engine Classic Ferrari for saleTherefore, it is not entirely unreasonable to treat both teams as beginners.

Jonathan Wheatley, Audi's Team Principal, believes that these Bahrain tests highlighted the progress made by the team's various departments in fostering team cohesion. While the engineering and mechanics teams could rely on Sauber's experience, they now have to integrate a whole new team, responsible for developing the Audi engine, which must necessarily work closely with the chassis team!

"I am encouraged by the fact that progress is being noticed from the outside."Wheatley explained to the Formula 1 website. “Internally, we have two groups of people working together, all very talented, on both the chassis and power unit sides, and the goal is to make them a single team during what has been a very short winter. We haven't even had the chance to get everyone together for a beer, so we haven't done any team building, far from it! In Barcelona, ​​we felt we were really in the early stages of the project, but at the end of this first week in Bahrain, we look much more like what a Formula 1 team should be, at least in the garage. We've had situations where we were under pressure, and so far everyone has reacted quite appropriately.”

The Briton, who was team manager at Red BullHe was also pleased with the milestones achieved by his team. Audi was indeed the first team to field a car complying with the 2026 regulations, while already bringing an evolution to its aerodynamic package this week in Bahrain, notably with new sidepods.

“I’m proud of where we are. We were the first team on track, we ran in Barcelona with a brand new engine, and we’re here with a new aerodynamic package. This proves the team’s ambition. It also shows the creativity of the whole team because no one has used the same solutions so far, especially with the sidepods. It shows our seriousness, but we remain humble when we see where we’ve started.”

Wheatley was keen to point out that while winter testing is primarily seen as an opportunity to test new cars, for Audi it is about testing literally every organizational aspect of the team, before the first Grand Prix in Australia from March 6 to 8: “When the cars arrive for testing, everyone focuses on them, but we test absolutely everything that makes up a race team. Freight, logistics, how to move everyone from one point to another, garage operations, communication with the drivers… We also work on planning the days. We have a huge number of engineers at testing, far more than at the races, and everyone needs to have a voice and make sure everything comes together to create a running plan for the next day. It’s a big challenge, not to be underestimated. When I say we have much more cohesion, it’s very important to me. The team structure changed a bit over the winter, and so far it’s paying off.”

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