Audi receive firm instruction after shock Jonathan Wheatley exit

Audi's new F1 team principal Mattia Binotto insists the team must focus on "clean execution" of race weekends, in its first since Jonathan Wheatley's departure.

Wheatley unexpectedly quit as team principal last week after less than a year in the post, after claims he was seeking a return to the UK, with Aston Martin interested in his services. 

Wheatley and former Ferrari boss Binotto formed a double-headed leadership structure at the team, which took over Sauber for 2026, with Binotto formally being named as the 'Head of F1 project' by Audi chief Gernot Dollner.

After the shock exit of Wheatley after just two races, Binotto has been named as team principal of Audi, and believes the team must focus on clean exection of race weekends, having suffered a 'Did Not Start' in both Australia and China.

In Melbourne, Nico Hulkenberg failed to take the start, whilst Gabriel Bortoleto was forced to sit out in Shanghai, with Hulkenberg also retiring from the Sprint. 

Bortoleto did manage to score two points for ninth place in Australia, but Binotto wants to see his team execute cleaner weekends, now it has "taken time" to address reliability concerns. 

"As we head into the third round of the season in Suzuka, the focus is increasingly on clean execution," he said. 

"Everyone, us as well as our rivals, is getting on top of the new cars, so the margins for error become slimmer. We’ve seen encouraging signs in terms of pace over the first two races, but we understand there are areas where we can still improve – both in performance and execution. 

"We’ve taken time to address the reliability issues we faced previously, looking to ensure they won’t happen again and that both cars will be able to run their full races without disruption. 

"The journey continues: the target now is to keep building, keep learning and make the most of every opportunity."