On this day in 2025, Jonathan Wheatley formally took up the role of team principal at Kick Sauber, giving the Hinwil-based operation its new sporting leader ahead of Audi’s factory arrival. Wheatley had been recruited in 2024 as part of Audi’s management build-out, with responsibility for race performance, trackside operations and team-principal-level representation in Formula 1. The date mattered because it turned a long-signposted hire into an active part of the Sauber-to-Audi transition.
Wheatley’s arrival was more than a routine staffing change. Formula 1 listed 1 April 2025 as his official start date at Kick Sauber, while Audi had already positioned him as a central figure in the future factory team’s management structure. His brief was clear: lead the sporting side, oversee race operations, and help shape the competitive identity of the project as Sauber moved toward its Audi era. That made 1 April 2025 the date when the team’s next leadership phase stopped being a plan and started being operational reality.
