Allan McNish explains Audi F1 role U-turn

Allan McNish said stepping into Audi’s Formula 1 racing director role after Jonathan Wheatley’s sudden exit was a “no-brainer” because he had been part of the project from the start.

Speaking in Miami after his first race weekend in the job, McNish said the call from team principal Mattia Binotto brought an immediate answer. “When I got a telephone call [from Binotto], and I then went to have a discussion, it was, ‘Yes, 100 per cent’ because I’ve lived it from day one. Why wouldn’t I?” he said.

That familiarity was central to the decision. McNish said he had been involved with Audi’s F1 effort “from literally the beginning in different roles,” and described seeing the car race for the first time in Melbourne as “definitely a special moment.”

The move came after Wheatley left Audi for personal reasons just two rounds into the 2026 season, with Binotto asking McNish to expand his existing role leading the driver development programme into the newly created racing director position.

It also marked a clear change from the stance McNish took when he retired from racing in 2013. He said at the time he would “never be involved in team management or anything else, because you’d have to deal with drivers like me, and I knew how difficult I was.” But, he added, “The reality is that things change, life changes, so the rule of that is to never say never.”

McNish said Binotto remains team principal and CEO, overseeing the power unit and Hinwil operations, while he focuses on race operations at the track. After his first weekend in charge in Miami, he admitted the learning curve was immediate. McNish said he was “more nervous than ever” and called the event “definitely a learning race for me” as he worked through how all the different parts of Audi’s trackside operation fit together.

That division of responsibility gives Audi an internal solution to Wheatley’s departure while allowing McNish to keep his driver development duties, with the team now trying to turn his first clearer view of the trackside operation into progress over the coming races.