Audi F1 Not Worried About Clashing With Cadillac for Key Hires

The race is on to get a staff of nearly 500 people, three facilities in three different countries, and new procedures up and running as Audi readies for its Formula 1 debut in 113 days. And when that day comes, it won’t be the only newcomer on the grid. America’s newest F1 team, Cadillac, will be alongside Audi, ready to make a splash. These massive organizations have been investing a significant amount of time and money in real estate, constructing facilities, hiring personnel, and stocking up on materials.

With the F1 roster of talent and suppliers being so small, having two teams chase similar assets simultaneously could cause a few headaches—even if Audi’s journey into F1 is more of a transition from Sauber, rather than starting from scratch like Cadillac.

In an interview with Audi F1 Team bosses Jonathan Wheatley and Mattia Binotto at the R26 reveal in Munich, The Drive learned that Audi isn’t concerned about competing with Cadillac for talent or resources. It has a different strategy that focuses on hiring fresh, young people from outside the F1 bubble to focus on the long-term well-being of the organization, rather than poaching from existing teams.

“Cadillac has made a completely different strategic approach, starting from scratch, setting up in Silverstone to be near the other F1 teams,” Binotto told The Drive. “Meanwhile, we have decided to invest in Sauber in Switzerland, and I think this [location] will be our competitive advantage in the future for us. We’ve been working to make sure we are attractive to the right new people and investing to make sure the existing people will stay.

“What I may see is that Cadillac is hiring people from the other teams who may be useful, but our approach is completely different,” he added. “I mean, it may take longer for us, but we are investing and coaching our people, and spending a lot of energy and a lot of time doing that.”

“We are investing in our futures and in young people coming in from several universities through programs we have set up. We are constantly trying to recruit private candidates from the best schools in the world, and we’ve got one of the best universities in Switzerland working alongside the Sauber Academy for engineering students,” said Binotto.

Wheatley, who spent two decades at Red Bull Racing and is largely responsible for assembling the dream team that delivered numerous world championships and record pit stops, will lead the team as Audi F1 Team Principal once the switch is completed on January 1. His skills and positive working culture, along with Binotto’s lessons learned from his time at Ferrari, will surely be put to the test during the team’s infancy.

“In a modern F1 team, you have to focus on multiple areas of the team [like talent hiring], while developing a culture of fighting for championships, and embracing the idea that winning is a normal state of mind,” Wheatley told The Drive.

A significant portion of Sauber’s current personnel is new, following a staffing review conducted after the Audi announcement. And while the team’s leadership has decades of experience in other teams, the rest have joined from various corners of the motorsport world, including rally, sports car racing, etc. Its driver lineup, too, reflects that young, agile mentality, as 21-year-old Gabriel Bortoleto will race alongside 38-year-old F1 veteran Nico Hulkenberg.

As The Drive’s F1 correspondent, Olivia Hicks, elaborated, rather than taking a gamble with young drivers, Cadillac opted for maximum experience, hiring two of the most seasoned drivers in the sport: Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas. It’s also hired the services of former Marussia boss Graeme Lowdon as team principal, and key F1 figures like Pat Symonds as executive engineering consultant, who has previously worked with the biggest names in F1 since 1979, including Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher.

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