Allan McNish announced as new Racing Director at Audi

Audi have appointed former Formula 1 racer Allan McNish as Racing Director, with the Scot beginning his role heading up trackside operations from the Miami Grand Prix onwards.

The German manufacturer have been evaluating their senior leadership structure following Jonathan Wheatley's departure from his role as Team Principal just under a year since he joined the team.

Audi, who made the Sauber outfit their factory team for their debut in F1 this year, have opted to promote from within, moving McNish into the newly-created role, reporting to CEO and Team Principal Mattia Binotto.

McNish, who accumulated 17 starts with Toyota in 2002, has long been a part of Audi's motorsport activities, including being involved with the Formula 1 project from the beginning.

The Scot has held several roles with Audi in recent times, including director of coordination for Audi Group Motorsport and Team Principal of their Formula E project. Most recently, he headed up the Driver Development Programme – a role he will dovetail with his new responsibilities.

McNish will have oversight of sporting matters, engineering coordination, driver management, race strategy and garage operations, as well as on-track media and partner activities.

He's enjoyed plenty of success behind the wheel of endurance racing machinery, including multiple wins in the Le Mans 24 Hours plus a title in the World Endurance Championship.

“Allan brings an exceptional combination of racing experience, technical understanding and leadership to this role," said Binotto.

"He has been a central part of the motorsport structure of Audi for many years and, in his roles within Audi Revolut F1 Team since its start, has played a key role in shaping our preparation for Formula 1, not least with his work around technical partnerships.

“This appointment strengthens our trackside leadership at a crucial stage of our project. Allan’s ability to connect all performance-related areas – from sporting operations to driver development – will be fundamental as we continue to build our team.”

McNish added: “It is a privilege to take on the role of Racing Director for Audi Revolut F1 Team: this is a marque that means a lot to me and it is an honour to be able to represent Audi and our partners on the most prestigious stage in motorsports.

"This is an exciting challenge at a pivotal moment in the history of Audi and Formula 1, and I am looking forward to contributing even more directly to our trackside performance.

“The project we are building is ambitious, and my focus will be on ensuring that all aspects of our race operations are delivering at their most competitive level and continuously improving.

"Together with our Driver Development Programme, to which I remain fully committed, my focus will be on implementing the building blocks for our success, under the direction of Mattia and the Board of Directors.”

F1 Correspondent Lawrence Barretto says...

Wheatley's departure, which came ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix, came as something of a shock to Audi, so they have understandably taken their time to work out their next steps.

Binotto assumed Wheatley's duties, but he told me in Japan that this was only an interim measure because he needed the bandwidth to focus on his job leading Audi's first foray into F1, which includes debuting their first-ever Formula 1 power unit.

Previously, Binotto and Wheatley ran the project together. However, it was decided that a more traditional structure made more sense as their next move, which is why McNish will report into Binotto rather than work alongside.

McNish has been entrenched in Audi for years. He loves the brand – and the brand loves him so this is not a surprising move.

The 56-year-old has been a frequent visitor to Sauber/Audi's hospitality in the Formula 1 paddock and is well-respected and liked within the team as well as a known figure to the Audi board, so this transition should be pretty seamless.

McNish will focus on the trackside leadership elements, allowing Binotto to return his full focus to getting both the chassis base in Hinwil and engine factory in Neuberg firing on all cylinders as they battle to get the team in shape to fight for world titles by 2030.