Whitley: The champions had a kind of magical gift.

      Jonathan Wheatley, who took over the Sauber team this spring, is one of the few who can boast that he was involved in the championship titles of four drivers who competed in Formula 1 in different historical periods.

      In 1994, Wheatley was a simple mechanic at Benetton and worked with Michael Schumacher's car. In 2005, when the team transformed into Renault F1, he was already its chief mechanic and, accordingly, helped the team providing technical support to Fernando Alonso.

      The following year, he joined Red Bull Racing and was team manager when Sebastian Vettel won his four titles, and then, as sports director, he witnessed Max Verstappen's four titles.

      Wheatley participated in a recent edition of the podcast Beyond the Grid, and was asked what commonalities he could identify among all four champions.

      "I think they all had some kind of magical gift,– Jonathan replied. – As soon as they sensed that there was an opportunity to win, they succeeded. At the same time, they could demonstrate some kind of unearthly skill: being in the cockpit of their cars, they were able to predict the development of the entire race.

      They were all able to implement tactical schemes that seemed unrealistic to others; they were able to get out of the most difficult situations when it seemed that everything could go wrong. Rain, accidents on the highway, punctured tires – they didn't care about anything. When it seemed to you that you had already seen the most outstanding examples of racing skills, these guys could come up with something that left you just amazed."