Why Wheatley expects new crop of team bosses to act in F1’s best interest

Sauber’s Jonathan Wheatley is confident the latest crop of F1 team bosses will act in the “interest of the sport” as they square off in F1 Commission meetings.

Wheatley joined Sauber in April after a long stint as Red Bull’s racing director, while his former Benetton and Renault colleagues Alan Permane and Steve Nielsen have also landed similar roles, with Permane appointed team principal at Racing Bulls, and former F1 and FIA man Nielsen becoming the managing director of Alpine from 1 September.

When Permane’s promotion was announced, Wheatley shared a picture on Instagram of the pair celebrating Michael Schumacher’s maiden world title at the 1994 Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide to congratulate his long-time friend.

Speaking to Autosport about Permane’s promotion, he said: “Yeah, I came across it the other day as it popped up, so it was beautiful timing. Alan’s haircut was quite different at the time, and so was my hair colour…

“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: “I’m fortunate that I met some incredible people on my journey through Formula 1. And if I make friends, I tend to keep friends for a very, very long time. So 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.”

“We all ended up in the sporting [director] group, and now we’ve all ended up in the team principals group, and they’re a great group of people, incredibly talented. We know each other inside out.”

Wheatley said the level of respect between the latest generation of team bosses will directly benefit for the series, even if they will still fight their corner hard to protect their respective team’s interests.

“We know how to separate our personal relationships from our professional relationships. We’ve all worked together on achieving a common goal,” he explained. “In fact, I would say 99% 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.

“We’ve been together at other FIA groups along the way, and FOTA even back in the day as well, so we understand what’s needed. We represent our teams in the best way possible. But if a decision is for the best interest in the sport generally we come around to that, so I’m looking forward to those discussions.”

McLaren and Red Bull vow to reset frosty relations as Mekies replaces Horner

Elsewhere in the paddock, Mekies, who replaced Christian Horner as Red Bull CEO and team principal after the British Grand Prix, held an informal meeting with McLaren chief Zak Brown in Hungary to set the tone for their teams’ relationship.

Those ties had soured in recent years as the two squads battled on and off track for the 2024 world championship, with Brown welcoming Mekies with open arms given his acrimonious relationship with the Frenchman’s predecessor.

Frederic Vasseur, Ferrari, Laurent Mekies, Red Bull Racing Team Principal

Photo by: Mark Thompson / Getty Images

“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,” Mekies said, when asked about his meeting at McLaren.

“And as much as we will disagree here and there, or we will simply defend our short-term or mid-term interests. The truth is we have a very good relationship with Zak and Andrea [Stella], but also with Toto [Wolff], Fred [Vasseur] and Mattia Binotto and all the other guys. So, it’s a very good group.

“I think we have done enough of F1 Commissions together to be conscious that we want to truly contribute to the sport. 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.

“We don’t hide our bias, but we try to be constructive about how to go about it.”