The Le Mans icon has taken up major new responsibilities at one of Formula 1's most ambitious teams. When Audi formally announced its future Formula 1 entry at the Belgian Grand Prix in August of 2022, the company brought along a generic show car wearing an early version of a possible livery. As the truck drivers who delivered it maneuvered the vehicle into the pitlane for a photo shoot, a man in an Audi shirt helped them position it, ensuring with a meticulous eye for detail that the Pirelli logos on all four tires were neatly aligned.
I doubt parking show cars was ever on the job description of Allan McNish, but that little cameo gives some idea of the Scot’s largely unsung and wide-ranging contribution to getting the marque’s F1 project up and running. Back then, he was officially "director, co-ordination of motorsport activities of the Audi Group," a somewhat vague title. As of last month, he has a new job: racing director of the F1 team.
View Price on AmazonHe is not team principal as such; that role lies with Mattia Binotto, to who he reports. However, it is a significant role. Audi says he has responsibility for all trackside operations, and that remit includes “oversight of sporting matters, engineering coordination, driver management, race strategy and garage operations, as well as on-track media and partner activities.” The reality is that McNish now has a high formal level of responsibility that he perhaps should have been given when everything kicked off in 2022.
During that period there had been some turmoil in the camp, with Andreas Seidl and Jonathan Wheatley just two names on what is now quite a list of high-profile people who have been and gone while McNish worked quietly in the background. Seidl fell victim to internal politics back in July 2024 when Binotto came in; subsequently, Binotto and Jonathan Wheatley formed a two-pronged leadership team that survived Sauber’s final season in 2025, but which then lasted just three race weekends under the Audi name this year before Wheatley departed.
No one knows Audi racing better than McNish, who is hugely respected internally. His connections with the marque go back to his first stint with the company’s sports car team in 2000. After a spell in F1 as a race driver for Toyota in 2001 and then as reserve and test driver for Renault, he returned to Audi in 2004 and quickly became a staple of its sports car racing squad until his retirement from driving in 2013.
He won the FIA World Endurance Championship title in his last season, and was ALMS champion in 2000, 2006 and 2007; he also won Le Mans with Audi in 2008 and 2013, following an earlier success with Porsche in 1998. After his driving career ended, he remained with Audi in a variety of jobs, including a stint as team principal of its Formula E outfit.
Source: roadandtrack.com
