F1 Team Boss Turned To Texting Rival To Avoid Going Down A Lap During Crucial Points Battle
It was a big result for Sauber, which will soon become the Audi works team
There was plenty of drama to be found on track during the Austrian Grand Prix this weekend with Red Bull's Max Verstappen crashing out on the opening lap and McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri battling it out for the win, but there was a little (good-natured) drama on the pit wall as well.
One of the big stories after the race was a big result for Sauber, who scored its first double points finish since 2023 with rookie Gabriel Bortoletto coming home in P8 for his first points in Formula 1, and his teammate Nico Hulkenberg crossing the stripe just behind him in P9.
However, Bortoletto found himself in a late race battle with Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso — the most experienced driver on the grid — for P7 and two extra points in the standings.
To make things even a little more interesting, Alonso happens to be his manager.
It was a great battle, but if you look in the background, you can see the McLarens of Norris and Piastri coming up from behind, with Norris getting past the two of them and putting them a lap down.
The result held with Alonso coming out just ahead of Bortoletto, but he was thrilled for the driver he manages.
The lapping by race-winner Norris came very late, and it turns out that Sauber team boss Jonathan Wheatley tried to keep it from happening by texting McLaren CEO Zak Brown, hoping that staying on the lead lap would give Bortoletto more time to potentially grab a couple of extra points.
"I was more looking behind at getting lapped, and I messaged Zak in the race and said, ‘Don’t lap us!’," he said, per Motorsport Week. "That would have been the cherry on the icing on the cake. And I think we could have had a slightly different result, but there you go."
A funny story, but it's undeniable that Sauber is headed in the right direction as the team counts down the races before they re-brand as Audi for the 2026 season.
Sauber is still only P9 in the constructor's standings, ahead of only Alpine, but they're just two points behind Aston Martin in P8 and three points behind Haas in P7.