New Sauber team principal Jonathan Wheatley has appeared to have brought some of his Red Bull secrets to his new squad and the effects are already being felt by its drivers.
Both Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg believe Sauber is “making progress” now that the former Red Bull sporting director is at the helm.
Wheatley joined Sauber as team principal last month, meaning he will lead the squad alongside COO and CTO Mattia Binotto. Together, the pair will oversee its transition to become Audi’s works F1 outfit for the 2026 season.
But before the name change happens, Wheatley is already working to turn the team around as Sauber is bottom of the championship just like it was last year.
“It’s still obviously very early days, but I think the first effects of that are definitely happening, and people also recognise and see that,” said Hulkenberg ahead of this weekend’s Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix at Imola.
“I think in the factory everyone is happy and listening to him. Someone that comes with so much wealth and knowledge of how one of the most successful teams operates, it’s definitely very powerful and valuable.”
Nico Hulkenberg, Sauber
Photo by: Lars Baron – Motorsport Images
The most immediate change that the team has seen is in its pitstops.
Under Wheatley, Red Bull consistently scored some of the quickest stops on the F1 grid, and now that honour is going Sauber’s way instead. Last time out in Miami, the team picked up the fastest stop when it serviced Bortoleto’s car in 2.24 seconds on lap 19 of the grand prix.
“I believe we are building this, and Jonathan together with Mattia they have been doing a very good job together,” said Bortoleto.
“For sure the pitstop, it’s now something that can be a clear improvement being the fastest pitstop last weekend.
“So, huge congratulations for the team for that and we are making more progress that maybe people don’t see yet, but us inside the team we can see it clear.”
Of course, fast pitstops are just one factor of a successful F1 weekend, and Sauber still needs to find pace to improve its qualifying and race results.
Gabriel Bortoleto, Sauber
Photo by: Lars Baron – Motorsport Images
What’s more, Bortoleto doesn’t believe Wheatley is a silver bullet who will turn around Sauber’s fortunes overnight. Instead, he says the transformation will take time, as with everything in F1.
“Absolutely I think we are making progress,” the Brazilian rookie added. “It doesn’t mean that because you have someone new, it’s going to appear in one month. It’s a process, it takes time.
“Like everything in life, like all the other teams, if you see all the teams that have been world champion in the past – only Brawn joined F1 and won straight away [in 2009]. All the others took some time.”
As such, the team is aware of its limits and Hulkenberg added that Sauber knows it still has work to do and is “pushing and working to push our limits.”
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