Motor racing-McNish sees change at Audi but 2030 target remains the same

By Alan Baldwin

Nov 6 (Reuters) - Audi set a target of a title challenge by 2030 when they took over the Sauber Formula One team and racing director Allan McNish says that remains unchanged as they near the end of their first season.

Less visible, but still key to preparing for future success, are the changes happening at the Swiss-based team's Hinwil home. McNish can point to the new staff canteen and gym as the simplest proof of that.

In the Sauber days, employees would leave the factory and cross the road to buy sandwiches from the Co-op shop. Now, they can sit and eat together, building teamwork, without leaving the building.

"When I flew back from Singapore, I went straight to the factory and into the gym and there were two of the mechanics in there. They had flown back on the same flight as me, gone straight to the gym and were doing their stuff before they went home," McNish told Reuters.

"All of these things were never available (before).

"If you look at our pitstops, at what the guys have done in the pitstops, that to me is a really telling point of how they are being able to consistently deliver. It's this wider side of things that is unseen."

At last weekend's Mexico City Grand Prix, Audi were the fourth-fastest team in pitstops according to DHL's fastest pitstop award statistics.

POINTS IN FIRST RACE AS AUDI

Audi have made their own engine and exceeded some expectations, scoring points immediately on their debut in Australia in March.

They are eighth overall ahead of this weekend's Sao Paulo Grand Prix in Brazil, four points behind Ferrari-powered Haas but comfortably ahead of Williams, Aston Martin and newcomers Cadillac.

Scot McNish, a former F1 racer with Toyota and three-time winner of the Le Mans 24 Hours sportscar race as well as an Audi motorsport veteran, came on board in April after Jonathan Wheatley, recruited from Red Bull, abruptly departed.

"Where we need to go is a more important part than where we've been," he said of his new mission.

"Our best car (either Brazilian Gabriel Bortoleto or German Nico Hulkenberg) has had a worst score of 12th place through the course of this season. So in reality, I think we're punching pretty well but we're punching in a very, very narrow area with Alpine and Racing Bulls for that ninth and 10th place, once you take the four teams that are blocking off the top eight.

"But if you look at it as a development of the team, then yes I think we are in line (with targets)... I think we've done a pretty reasonable job."

While a major carmaker, part of the Volkswagen group, Audi are well aware that racing teams operate differently to a corporate giant.

"This is a racing team, not an OEM (manufacturer)," said McNish. "It's got the OEM name above the door without a question, but in reality it's a racing team. It has to be.

"I've seen big steps that we've already taken. If I think back to Miami, how we were with the problems that we had. Wherever we looked, in that particular race weekend, we had an issue... I think it's gone from being a team from Hinwil that was basically there, to a team that wants to fight and compete.

"They (Sauber) did a brilliant job with what they had, but they didn't have a lot. And now I think they (the staff) have got a regrowth of energy, that's quite clear. You see it around the factory."

McNish said Audi needed to really seize the opportunities when they came along, particularly "if there's something that's a little bit meatier in terms of results, that we've got the team and the structure to actually take it and be able to develop consistently through the course of the season.

"This is something that we're starting to do now, but I think we need to improve on that."