Jonathan Wheatley has been given the permission to join Sauber Motorsport as its F1 team principal from April itself after early release.
While Ferrari stopped Enrico Cardile from joining Aston Martin before his gardening leave, Red Bull has given permission to Wheatley to join Sauber as its team principal from April 1 onward after an early release from his contract and subsequent gardening leave.
He was due to join from June onward initially but Wheatley will now start from April 1 and will attend his first race as the team principal in Japanese GP. In his absence, Mattia Binotto is dovetailing his COO role with that of team principal.
Binotto was also seen with Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto during the F1 75 launch, filling in for Wheatley. The Brit’s joining will complete the first leg of new hiring made by Sauber as it transition itself to become Audi from 2026 onward.
The team let go of Alessandro Alunni Bravi after the end of 2024 F1 season, who joined McLaren during the winter. Both Binotto and Wheatley are to report to Gernot Dollner, who is Chairman of Board of Directors at Sauber Motorsport AG.
Here’s Sauber looking to expand its arm in UK
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Here’s Mattia Binotto on Sauber in survival mode
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