Allan McNish has completed his first Grand Prix as Audi’s race director. During the spring break in April, the Scot – one of the founders of the Germans’ F1 project – was promoted and effectively took over the duties of former team boss Jonathan Wheatley. In Miami, he led the operational management on the circuit for the first time. For McNish, it was an exciting but variable start: Audi remained out of the points due to persistent reliability issues.
Read more ‘Antonelli begins to mentally break Russell’
For McNish himself, that did little to diminish the feeling of being back in the thick of the action. “It was good,” he responded afterwards. “I live for it; since I was eleven, my whole life has revolved around racing. It’s what I enjoy, it’s what gets me out of bed in the morning – it’s my passion. That’s why I only go home satisfied when we have won.” He remains realistic: “And I know that’s not always the case, because in your racing career you lose more often than you win. That’s just statistics, with maybe one or two exceptions.” Audi was plagued by reliability problems all weekend; in the main race, Nico Hülkenberg retired in the seventh lap while Gabriel Bortoleto finished P12 outside the points.
Passion project
“The reality is that this environment is my life: my career, my hobby, my passion,” emphasized the former Le Mans winner determinedly. “It’s nice to be here – there is no alternative.” McNish underlines his commitment to the project, in which he has earned his stripes not only as a former driver but also as an experienced leader within Audi’s Formula E program. Yet his new role also brought considerable pressure. “I’m actually more nervous now than ever before,” he joked. “Of course, I have been to circuits many times and it’s clear that there is a lot of experience within the team, which is good. Because of that, I knew we didn’t need to improve much operationally.”
Read more Verstappen also wanted to race a second 24-hour race: ‘Seize every chance to race’
During the race weekend in Miami, however, his role extended far beyond just the sporting aspect. “But on the other hand, this is the biggest event the team has ever had in terms of marketing and communication, with multiple events in the city center,” he said. “So besides what was happening on the circuit, there were a lot of other things going on. The work covered much more than just the operational aspect of the race director; there was a lot more involved in that role.” That clearly took its toll: “Maybe I need to try to take some time for myself,” he concluded laughing.
NOW ONLINE: 40 pages Race Special GP Miami: our online magazine with news, reactions, analysis, and interview!
Read more Teammate Verstappen sees FIA applying double standards: ‘Hamilton received no penalty’
