The resignation
Last week, after the first rumors about the possible immediate resignation of Jonathan Wheatley from the role of Audi Team Principal, the rumors turned into news as concrete as they were sensational: after just two races in this role, and a year after the same role held in the former Sauber, the English manager actually decided to resign for personal reasons, with Mattia Binotto becoming his replacement starting from the Japanese GP.
The message from mom
A strange and unexpected case which also caught the men belonging to the Audi team by surprise, including the drivers, who did not have any type of conversation with the team leaders to find out about Wheatley’s departure in time. The most curious confirmation, in fact, came from Nico Hülkenberg. German told the media how and when he learned of Wheatley’s resignation, which in no way includes direct contact with managers: “I found out about it along with the whole world. I found out about it on Thursday, last week, when it suddenly came out – he explained – actually, that day I was in the simulator and my mom sent me an article while I was looking at my phone. I thought, ‘Oh, s***!’”
News that therefore shocked the 38-year-old, who nevertheless remains confident in the potential of the team also with Mattia Binotto, who until Wheatley’s exit was involved as Head of the Audi F1 project: “This is not a setback – he continued – an F1 team is made up of many people. We need strong people, but with Mattia, who obviously remains a leader, we are not without leadership, without structure or without a plan. So, even if the situation has changed unexpectedly, everything else goes smoothly as expected and as previously planned. From an operational point of view, during a race weekend, I don’t think much will change. Formula 1 teams, and Formula 1 in general, are bigger than a single person.”
