How Sauber’s new leader is demonstrating his expertise

Sauber’s breakthrough double-points finish in Austria, its first since the 2023 Qatar round (fittingly, also an 8-9 finish), was validation of the team’s extensive development work over this season.

Despite the upcoming onset of all-new Formula 1 regulations in 2026, Sauber has not been particularly shy when it comes to putting updates onto this year’s C45. It’s well known that, when Mattia Binotto joined the team, Sauber was treading water. The team was effectively waiting for the clock to roll over to the point where the team metamorphosed into Audi.

But, having sensed that developing the car might also be quite helpful for developing its design tools back at Hinwil, Sauber has spent the first half of the year attempting to climb the midfield order. This approach is now starting to offer rewards; Nico Hulkenberg has scored points in the past three races and rookie Gabriel Bortoleto is now off the mark.

“I’m a bit fed up that the technical regulations are ending at the end of the year, because we’re starting to have a bit of fun here!” chuckled team principal Jonathan Wheatley in the wake of Sauber’s impeccable performance at the Red Bull Ring. “With the work that Mattia and James [Key, technical director] are doing back at the factory, putting performance on the car, I mean, it’s a lovely time to be here.”

“[Bortoleto] just delivered a flawless performance. He built and built and built on that all the way through qualifying. I mean, wow! I think we were all sat there, even the team, going, ‘what an amazing achievement’. I think also Nico was more than capable of doing something outstanding in qualifying but, again, look at the drive that he delivered.

“I think it shows the confidence in the car and for me that shows the confidence that the team has, you know. Pitstop performance was world class today. Four absolutely beautifully nailed stops, I didn’t have my heart in my mouth at any point. It felt absolutely like a world class performance.”

Many have theorised that Wheatley’s arrival at the team, where he first took the team principal mantle ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix, was a watershed moment for Sauber with regards to pitstops. The context can be slightly misleading if you consider some of the woeful stops that the team delivered at the start of last year when its new pit equipment encountered myriad problems during the races.

These issues were eventually dialled back and the team was in better shape by the end of the year; it delivered a 2.42s tyre swap in Qatar on Valtteri Bottas’ car, its fastest service of the year.

But in a championship where tenths of a second can often be the difference between prizes and a point-less weekend, there were still another three or four tenths to find. And, in Spain, Sauber logged a 2.13s stop on Bortoleto’s car, then had both cars turned around in 2.3s in Austria.

Although Wheatley hoped that he’d played “a small part” in improving the reaction times of the Sauber crew, he preferred to credit the work done by the mechanics themselves and the upstairs leadership of Binotto.

“I’m sure you’ll see that before I arrived there was a journey here. [But] of course I like to think I’ve had a positive effect here in terms of the attitude, the mindset, the way we go racing.

“You can enjoy yourself doing pitstops and creating the right environment for people to thrive. I’ve played a small part, but I think they were already on a journey.

Jonathan Wheatley, Team Principal

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

“Don’t forget Mattia, you imagine the influence he’s been having from the background. I’ve always said that I think pitstop performance is the manifestation of team spirit. When the team’s highly motivated, they deliver. And that I think today shows just where the team is in terms of its spirit.”

Wheatley’s touch also extends to strategy. He believes that the two-stopper was still the way to go in Austria – even if the two cars were beaten by the one-stopping Liam Lawson and Fernando Alonso. He says that a bigger reward was probably available without the influence of traffic – and, versus the chasing McLarens, being traffic – in the final stages of the race.

Regardless, his arrival at the team has tried to challenge the status quo. The team looked rudderless for a couple of years, especially after Frederic Vasseur upped sticks for Ferrari, but having someone in the driving seat at the track – and someone with Red Bull expertise – has imbued the team with a new sense of what can be possible in F1.

“There’s a few conversations I’ve had with the pitcrew; I’ve looked people in the eyes, talked about maybe what we should do. Sometimes we’ve looked a little bit like we’re trying too hard.

“But I think there’s a great environment in the team. Most of it was here before I got here. Of course there’s things to do. We’ve changed an awful lot.

“We wanted to explore different ways of communicating during the race, different ways of talking about strategy, how you include a wider audience in that and doing that the right way.

“I think at the moment we’re thriving. We’re just enjoying the environment. And yeah, there’s more to come. I’ve still only been here since April.”