Wheatley: Never saw myself doing next step, just enjoyed every day

Wheatley started his career in the early 1990s as a junior mechanic with Benetton and went on to be a chief mechanic with them as well as Renault before moving to managerial roles with Red Bull Racing as team manager and sporting director.

He left Red Bull in 2024 and took over the role of team principal at Sauber which morphed into Audi in 2026.

When asked if he always targeted a team principal job, Wheatley said: "This would be the least successful career in the world if I had, because it's taken me 34 years to get here.

"No, back then, team principals were Ron Dennis, Flavio Briatore, Luca di Montezemolo," he pointed out. "I mean, just to even think for a second that you could be a team principal was completely unattainable, because I generally have been happy working in a team environment.

"I never really saw myself doing the next step or the next step," Wheatley claimed. "I’ve just enjoyed every day in Formula 1. And like I said, I’ve been very lucky that people have identified me as maybe somebody who could take the next step.

"And then I think sometimes in your career, you get a significant phone call, and this was one of those, and I’ve just been tremendously privileged to have been, at no point in my career, massively career motivated.

"I’ve just enjoyed working with whatever team, and I’ve been offered opportunities.

"I sit here today as a Team Principal of what’s going to be the Audi Formula 1 project, which is one of the most exciting things I can believe I can say in a sentence," the 58-year-old concluded. (Source: MotorsportWeek)