\n“I expected a team that didn’t have much energy to it and that was maybe slightly older in terms of demographic of people here. It’s the opposite of that, actually. There’s a huge ambition with this very young team,\u201d he said to The Race<\/a>.
<\/p>\n \n“The facility doesn’t help us at the moment. It’s not a huge problem, but we have a development project for the facility to give people the space and the tools that they need. It’s a relatively old building, an old wind tunnel now.
<\/p>\n \n\u201cWe’ve had quite an ambitious recruitment drive, so office space has been difficult, and meeting space almost impossible – that’s just the day-to-day things big teams can just take for granted. We’re putting those building blocks in place, so we’re still putting the foundations in.\u201d
<\/p>\n Can Audi become a competitive team?# \nNot only do Sauber and Audi have a former Red Bull sporting director in Wheatley to guide them forwards, but also former Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto as their CEO<\/a>.
<\/p>\n \nAlongside their main factory in Hinwil and Audi’s engine department at Neuberg an der Donau, a UK base is also in the pipeline<\/a> for the team as they prepare to take a step up the grid.
<\/p>\n \nIn the past four grands prix, Sauber have scored more points than Red Bull a sign that the Audi project could be a successful one should the team\u2019s infrastructure improve.
<\/p>\n \n“We have to be humble about our journey, where we’re trying to get to from where we started, but I can’t see any impediments to that,\u201d Wheatley continued.
<\/p>\n \n\u201cThe team’s young and full of energy, so it needs a bit of direction, a bit of structure.
<\/p>\n \n“It’s not because people are bad; there isn’t a clear reporting structure, there isn’t a clear process, people don’t completely understand their roles and responsibilities and where they’re free to make decisions. So there’s a cultural project and there’s a structural project under way as well.”
<\/p>\n \nF1 HEADLINES: Hamilton facing impossible decision as F1 champion open to amazing return<\/a>
<\/p>\n \nREAD MORE: Inside Hamilton’s staggering $450M net worth: Ferrari salary, real estate value & more<\/a>
<\/p>\n \nREAD MORE: F1 driver salaries: What stars including Hamilton and Verstappen earn<\/a>
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Can Sauber\/Audi compete at the front?<\/p>\n