Jonathan Whitley: I love working with people

      The Swiss Sauber team, after 32 years of competing in Formula 1, has undergone several transformations and is once again preparing for radical changes. Now it has become the foundation of Audi's factory F1 project, led by Mattia Binotto, with Jonathan Whitly recently appointed as the new team principal—a highly experienced professional who previously served as Sports Director at Red Bull Racing.

      Improvements are already evident, as just a week ago at Silverstone, Nico Hülkenberg, with 239 Grand Prix starts behind him, achieved his first podium finish in his career driving for Sauber. This marks the team's first such achievement since 2012 and the fourth consecutive race where the Swiss team scored points.

      In the first half of the season, they earned 41 points and rose to 6th place in the Constructors' Championship. Interestingly, this is 37 points more than their entire modest haul of prize points last year, when they finished at the bottom of the championship.

      "Everyone in the team is feeling enthusiastic and eager to perform even better," Whitly said in an interview with the official championship website. "It's quite likely that when I moved from Red Bull to Sauber, I didn't know what awaited me here. But I felt a desire to bring about positive changes, a desire to learn and move forward. All of this inspires me.

      So far, I like everything. But I want to say that I have to give my maximum effort. I think I expected too much from myself in this short period. There was no time to rest, especially since in recent weeks I've had health issues. I simply overexerted myself trying to absorb as much information as possible.

      I am concerned about the team, I want to truly understand the decisions that have been made and are being made, which have brought us to this level, and to understand in which direction we are heading. I believe I now have a pretty good idea of all this.

      I've known Mattia Binotto for a long time; we’ve always got along well, exchanged jokes, and enjoyed good times in the paddock. So, it's easy for us to build a working relationship. Of course, before I actually started working, we had many conversations, mostly on general topics.

      There is a door between our offices, and it’s often open rather than closed. Every day, there are moments when one of us stands in the doorway, leaning on the frame, and we exchange ideas. Both of us have extensive experience, so sharing ideas can sometimes be very beneficial.

      Sauber's base in Hinwil is maintained in excellent condition, but it is very old. Of course, one of the tasks we’re tackling this year is completing the transformation of everything related to our image. We have to handle current affairs but also focus entirely on the future and what we will be doing over the next five years.

      I am also involved in upgrading the racing infrastructure, overseeing ongoing projects, and striving to quickly get up to speed, properly allocate resources across different areas, and ensure everything is on track budget-wise, etc. These are somewhat dull but essential tasks that must be done so that next year, when the team becomes Audi, we will achieve results.

      We need to improve cooperation between the team’s departments, establish more effective information exchange, enhance marketing efforts, but also continue to focus on racing. The team is already on the right track; for example, Mattia has managed to implement positive changes in pit stops, and we are working to increase the efficiency of the car and all equipment used on the track.

      It’s a very ambitious project. Both Mattia and I hold very high standards, and we have high expectations for our team members, but we have a long journey ahead—one that will not be easy. Our task is to develop the right working culture. When people from other teams join us, it’s a whole process to help them integrate into the work, and I often have to employ creative leadership approaches: we need to identify talent and focus on training and developing it.

      I enjoy working with people, love appointing talented specialists to the roles they desire—this is very important to me...