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New F1 team Audi tempering expectations for Melbourne opener

A quick morning run through Melbourne's parks and tree-lined boulevards is about the only free time Audi team principal Jonathan Wheatley can allow himself as the rebooted Formula One outfit prepares for the Australian Grand Prix. Like all F1 teams, Audi is grappling with the biggest overhaul of engine and chassis regulations in decades. Unlike other teams, Audi, formerly Sauber, is doing it while on the throes of transition. Powered by Ferrari engines, Sauber finished ninth of 10 teams in the 2025 Constructors' Championship but its tally of 70 points was its best since 2012. Gone is Sauber's glaring green livery, replaced by sleek titanium, black and red for Audi's debut R26 car. Now, backed by Qatari sovereign wealth and powered by a new Audi-built engine, the team might have been expected to kick on to bigger and better things this season after launching a five-year plan to win an F1 championship. Wheatley, however, is tempering expectations ahead of the season-opener at Albert Park. With modest achievements in F1, Sauber enjoyed little airtime on Netflix's popular 'Drive to Survive' series. But that could change with Audi's popularity. Wheatley would welcome Netflix exposure, even if it's not the front of mind for him.

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Transcript
00:00Okay.
00:45I think our ambitions coming into this race are a little different, we're knitting together
00:52a chassis and a powertrain team for the first time, we've launched so many new initiatives
00:58over the winter, so much new equipment, so many new things to bed in and get used to, the
01:04team has to work with each other, build its strength, build its confidence together, so
01:08I think we're very much internally focused this weekend on trying to achieve the cleanest
01:12race weekend that we can, it's a massive weekend for us, it's the first race for the Audi Revolut
01:18Formula 1 team, it still makes the hair stand on the back of my neck talking about that
01:23and you know, we're starting from a humble beginning, but we've got very much the future
01:29in our sights.
01:35Salva gave us this incredible foundation, but it was a small team and we're a large team
01:41with big ambitions, so we started from a good place, but if you look at the established teams,
01:47what they achieve year in year out, the domination at the top of the sport, where we need to be,
01:52I think we're in a good starting place for that, you know, but it's a journey, and it's
01:57a journey that Audi are on board with, it's been part of our messaging from the beginning,
02:01to be a challenger, then competitor, and then champion.
02:40I think new regulations bring new opportunity.
02:47It's also brought Audi into the sport.
02:50It's brought Cadillac into the sport.
02:52It's brought all of these other new PU manufacturers into the sport, which is incredible.
02:56And of course, it mixes up the status quo.
02:59It changes pecking order.
03:02And it's going to be fascinating to see that.
03:04And honestly, we might have our assumptions.
03:06We all do our work trying to work out where everyone is in terms of their competition.
03:11We're not really going to know until qualifying.
03:13And we won't get a really good idea for two or three races who has a car capable of winning
03:19a world championship.
03:35And at the moment, the gap between the front and the back of the grid is quite significant.
03:40So, you know, points, it's our dream to score points at every opportunity.
03:45What we mustn't do is, if we're in a position to score them, to fail to do so.
03:50Scars on earth, you know, doing what I always dreamed of since, you know, super young ages.
03:55But, yeah, there's a lot of prep, you know, all the, in the factory, backing, it's a little bit more
04:01complicated.
04:02There is a lot of factors involved.
04:04We don't have...
04:16So, this new generation of Formula One cars is incredibly complicated.
04:21The way it recovers energy around the track is strategic.
04:25And the brightest drivers, obviously, find the best ways of doing that and getting the most performance out of their
04:31car.
04:32Now, with Gabby and Nico, we have this incredible duo.
04:36They're fantastic to work with.
04:38Nico has this incredible experience.
04:40He's calm about him.
04:42He's been there, seen it, done it.
04:44And he brings a stability.
04:45And Gabby's learning from that.
04:47He's learning what a professional Formula One driver, the way they approach every challenge they face over the course of
04:55a season.
04:56And Gabby, again, his work ethic has been incredible.
05:18Demonstrates to him.
05:19I don't know what she'd like to do.
05:23So, thank you.
05:29I will be here.
05:29You
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