“The way I do my job is insane in a lot of ways”: Red Bull director explains how his obsession with rulebooks have helped the team

Red Bull sporting director Jonathan Wheatley recently delved into the intricacies of his unconventional approach to the job on Red Bull's podcast.

Red Bull Racing has been an unstoppable force in the last three seasons. The Austrian outfit won back-to-back Constructors' championships in the last two seasons.

The 2023 season saw the team win all races except one, as they finished the year with a staggering 451-point lead over the second-place Mercedes. A big chunk of their success can be attributed to the team's crew members. One of the key figures behind the team's success behind the scenes is their sporting director Jonathan Wheatley.

The Brit, who joined Red Bull from Renault in 2006 as a championship winner with Fernando Alonso, is one of the longest-serving sporting directors on the grid. He was a junior mechanic at Benetton in the 1990s before rising to the role of Race Team Chief Mechanic in 2001.

The 56-year-old, while speaking on the Red Bull podcast, highlighted how his obsession with rulebooks has become a cornerstone of the reigning Constructors' champions' triumphs. He said (h/t PlanetF1):

"I’ve been doing it for a long time. The way I do my job is insane in a lot of ways because I think through every single scenario that I think could happen and I look at the rules and I look at how the team might react and I try to come up with an idea."

This meticulous approach has enabled Wheatley to unearth "hidden gems" within the rulebook, giving the team a competitive edge. He ensures that he is well-prepared for any situation that may arise during a race weekend.

"I look like I’m completely in control in the time. I’ve put hours of thought into it and if I’ve done my job well, I think I’m very well prepared going into that event. I’ve been lucky sometimes that confidence has carried me through where maybe the rules are a little bit vague," said the Brit.

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Red Bull sporting director Jonathan Wheatley on his"painful" mistakes

Whilst Jonathan Wheatley has been the team's guiding force for a long time, he admitted to some "painful" mistakes accumulated over his 17-year stint as sporting director. The Red Bull chief said:

"We’ve had radio failures. So the car arrives in the pits and you didn’t know that was going to happen. We’ve had communication issues where the wrong set of tyres was brought out to the car and then taken back again."

Despite these challenges, Wheatley emphasized the team's commitment to learning from their mistakes and implementing new procedures and technology to minimize the margin for error. He concluded:

"Obviously, we try to learn from all of those mistakes and they’ve been painful and we’ve put procedures and people in place to try to add software and all sorts of things to try to get around. But you’re a hair’s breadth away."