(Motorsport-Total.com) – For former Formula 1 driver Allan McNish, the race weekend in Miami was a real premiere: The 56-year-old Scot was on site for the first time in his role as the new race director of Audi’s Formula 1 team. “I am actually more nervous than ever before,” McNish says with a smile.
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“I have been to the racetrack a few times before. It is not my first time. So I know my way around, so to speak.” Because: the three-time Le Mans winner started in the 2002 Formula 1 season in a total of 16 races for Toyota and achieved his best result with seventh place in Malaysia.
However, his role as race director is new territory for him. “Of course, we have a lot of experience in various areas of the team, which is good,” McNish adds. “On the other hand, I already knew quite a bit about what we had to work on operationally.”
But of all places in Miami, where Audi experienced a small debacle, there were especially many guests invited, including various events downtown. “So there were plenty of other things to do besides the action here,” emphasizes the Audi official.
“So it was actually about many areas, not just the operational tasks as race director that you have in this role.” The pressure during the race weekend was overall high, but McNish is satisfied with his debut as race director for the Audi team: “It was good.”
What tasks Allan McNish takes on at Audi
What functions does the Scot now actually perform in his new role? “Mattia Binotto is the team principal. He is the managing director. I am the race director,” McNish says. “So he takes care of the power unit and everything in Hinwil, as you would expect given his experience in this area and his role as team principal.”
“I focus on everything we do here in race operations,” the Scot adds. “At the same time, I also oversee the driver development program that we started at the beginning of the year. And then there is something called ‘Legends,’ which is basically the main concern of a race director. But that is future music.”
“At the moment he supports me excellently but is not directly involved in my tasks. And so this race was definitely instructive for me. I understood how the different areas fit together. Now I have a clearer picture, on which we can build and try to develop further.”
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McNish has known Audi’s Formula 1 project from the start
That McNish now carries responsibility within a Formula 1 team at all was not planned after the end of his active driving career in 2013. “I said I would never get involved in team management or a similar role because then you would have to deal with drivers like me,” he says with a grin.
“And I knew how difficult that is. The reality, however, is that things change. Life changes. Therefore, the rule applies: Never say never,” adds the now 56-year-old, who has been involved in Audi’s Formula 1 project from the beginning.
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“From this perspective, I have known this project from day one. I was involved from the beginning in various functions, many different ones. When I was in Melbourne and saw the car race for the first time, that was definitely a special moment.”
Allan McNish: Motorsport “is my passion”
“And when I got the call and had the conversation, the decision was clear to me personally: Yes, 100 percent,” reveals the new Audi race director about the conversation with Mattia Binotto. “Because, as I said, I have experienced it from the start. Why shouldn’t I?”
“Since I was eleven years old, I have lived for motorsport,” emphasizes McNish. “It is my passion. It is what drives me in the morning. It is my great passion. But when I say I live for motorsport, I mean that I only go home satisfied when we have won.”
“And I know that is not always the case, because in motorsport you lose more in your career than you win. That is just pure statistics, apart from maybe one or two exceptions. But the fact is that this environment is my life. It is my profession. It is my hobby. It is my passion.”
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