Jonathan Wheatley has helped multiple F1 legends win their first world championships. Previously the sporting director at Red Bull, he’s now the team principal at Sauber.
Wheatley started out with Benetton in the 1990s and was working as a mechanic when Flavio Briatore dumped Roberto Moreno to sign Michael Schumacher. The German won back-to-back titles in ’94 and ’95.
Benetton later became Renault, and Wheatley had been promoted to chief mechanic by the time Fernando Alonso was promoted from the team’s driver academy. Alonso ended Schumacher’s run of dominance by taking the championship in 2005.
Wheatley left on a high the following year as Alonso defended his crown, but he took a risk by joining the nascent Red Bull project. In a repeat of his Renault days, they became the arch-rivals of his former colleague.
Sebastian Vettel beat Alonso to the championship in 2010 and 2012 as part of a run of four straight. While Vettel moved on in 2015, Wheatley’s Red Bull tenure lasted nearly two decades.
That meant he saw every step of Max Verstappen’s journey. And Wheatley played an important role in the Dutchman snatching a maiden title at the 2021 season finale in Abu Dhabi.
Jonathan Wheatley says Max Verstappen ’embodies everything that a racing driver needs’
During his appearance on F1’s Beyond the Grid podcast this week, Tom Clarkson asked Wheatley to pick who ‘shone brightest’ out of Schumacher, Alonso, Vettel and Verstappen.
Wheatley chose the reigning world champion, although he admitted recency bias may have played a part. He sees Verstappen as the complete driver.
Even though he’s no longer at Red Bull, he still marvels at what Verstappen is doing. He doesn’t think any other driver is capable of reaching his level.
“Their talents all shine bright,” Clarkson said. “Whose shines brightest, do you think, of the names I’ve just mentioned?”
Wheatley replied: “I think like many things, it’s the latest one, the newest one that you’re working with is the one you’ll naturally feel. For me, I think Max embodies everything that a racing driver needs.
“I’ve loved working with him. It was an incredible journey at Red Bull. We didn’t get everything right – he and I had some tough conversations over the year.
“But I’ve been astounded by some of the things he’s done in a car. And I still am. I still sit there and watch it sometimes and go ‘wow, I don’t know if anyone else can do that’.”
Max Verstappen is conjuring memories of Michael Schumacher with behind-the-scenes activity
Verstappen and Schumacher are often said to be alike. This year, the former is trying to match the latter’s run of five consecutive world championships.
He’s doing so at a clear pace disadvantage. McLaren are the fastest team in F1 and Red Bull swing from a close competitor at their stronger tracks to fourth-quickest at weaker venues.
That could prompt the 64-year-old to dial up his ruthlessness on track. Verstappen used his ‘party trick’ in Saudi Arabia, Karun Chandhok says, by diving to the apex and running wide in his first-corner battle with Oscar Piastri.
The stewards handed him a penalty, but Chandhok likened him to Schumacher in his attempts to game the regulations.
Behind the scenes at Red Bull, Verstappen inspires the same ‘energy’ as Schumacher did at Ferrari. The Scuderia have only won one world title since the Regenmeister left, and Red Bull could experience a similar decline if they lose their own superstar.
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