Sauber’s Jonathan Wheatley believes the latest generation of F1 team principals will act in the “interest of the sport” during F1 Commission meetings. Wheatley, who joined Sauber in April after a long stint as Red Bull’s racing director, highlighted the shared values and deep mutual respect among the new leadership group.
Wheatley’s former colleagues Alan Permane and Steve Nielsen have also taken prominent roles, with Permane becoming Racing Bulls’ team principal and Nielsen set to join Alpine as managing director on September 1. When Permane’s promotion was announced, Wheatley shared an Instagram photo of the pair celebrating Michael Schumacher’s 1994 Australian Grand Prix title win.
Speaking to Motorsport.com, Wheatley said: “Alan is an established professional who knows what he’s doing, years and years of trackside experience, still with a love and a passion for Formula 1 that we all talk about, shares many of the same values I do. So, I think it’s a really good move for them, and I’m very, very pleased for him, and very pleased for Laurent Mekies [at Red Bull]. I’m looking forward to working with Steve Nielsen again as well.”
He added: “We’ve known each other a long time and it’s just nice to have this group of people around you that you trust absolutely and you’ve been on this journey with, because you share so much experience.”
Wheatley said the mutual respect between team bosses will benefit Formula 1 even when defending individual team interests. “We know how to separate our personal relationships from our professional relationships. In fact, I would say 99 percent in the best interest of the sport in the sporting group, and I’m absolutely certain that at team principal level we will have the same philosophies, which is overarchingly, to do the best thing for Formula 1.”
Mekies and Brown Reset Relations Between McLaren and Red Bull
Laurent Mekies, who replaced Christian Horner as Red Bull CEO and team principal after the British Grand Prix, met McLaren’s Zak Brown in Hungary to improve team relations. The two teams’ ties had soured during their battle for the 2024 world championship.
Mekies said: “Competition on track is one thing. Having discussions together to define a position on the future of the sport, on key strategic decisions that we need to make as a sport for the future, is something that is normal to do between competitor.”
He added that the group of current team principals, including Toto Wolff, Fred Vasseur, Mattia Binotto, and Andrea Stella, share a constructive approach to shaping Formula 1’s future: “The sport is at a level right now where it deserves that a group tries to tune down their short-term and mid-term interests to discuss with FIA and with F1 on how to drive it forward, and that’s what we try to do.”
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