Freshly nominated Audi F1 racing director Allan McNish admits that his first taste of life on the pit wall left him more on edge than anything he experienced behind the wheel.
Following the departure of former Team Principal Jonathan Wheatley earlier this year, McNish was confirmed in late April as the man tasked with leading trackside operations for Audi, stepping into the role from the Miami Grand Prix onwards.
His arrival was met with enthusiasm inside the garage, with drivers Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hülkenberg both publicly backing the former F1 driver and multiple Le Mans winner’s vast experience and technical understanding.
But if the external confidence was high, McNish himself quickly realised the internal pressure of his new vantage point is on another level entirely.
‘More nervous now than any time before’
Reflecting on his first weekend in charge in Miami, where Bortoleto finished P12 and Hülkenberg retired, McNish admitted the emotional intensity of the role caught him by surprise.
“Well, I'm actually more nervous now than any time before!,” he conceded.
“You know, I've been at the circuit a few times – it's not the first time, so I understand the ways of the world, so to speak. Clearly, we've got a lot of experience in different areas of the team, which is good.
“On the other side of it, I knew quite a lot of the things that we were needing to work on in operational.
“But on the other side, it was the biggest event that the team has had from marketing and communications with events downtown, so there was a whole load of other stuff apart from what was going on in here as well, for some pop-ups and other things.
“So it was actually across many areas more than necessarily just the Racing Director operational aspect of it, which is what you have to do in the role. But it was good.”
The comments underline just how multi-layered the Racing Director role has become in modern Formula 1, where operational demands stretch far beyond strategy calls and pit lane execution.
Passion, pressure and a someone who still ‘lives to race’
Despite the heightened responsibility, McNish insists his emotional connection to racing remains as strong as ever – perhaps even more so now that he is responsible for shaping results rather than delivering them from behind the wheel.
“Look, I live to race,” he explained. “I've lived to race all my life, since I was 11 years old. It's what I love, it's what gets me up in the morning, it's what's the passion.
“But when I say I live to race, I don't go home happy unless we've won, and I know that that's not always the case because, in racing in your career, you lose more than you win. That's just natural statistics, apart from maybe one or two.
“The reality is that this environment is my life, it's my career, it's my hobby, it's my passion. It's always good to be here. The alternative's not.”
That emotional investment was on full display even during the race itself, where McNish found himself most energised not by timing screens or strategy calls, but by on-track bravery from his drivers.
A racer’s eye still firmly on the action
For all the pressure of his new role, McNish’s instincts remain rooted in the visceral excitement of racing – particularly when young drivers deliver standout moments under pressure.
©Audi
“I loved Gabi's move round the outside of [Isack] Hadjar at Turn 4 [in the Sprint]. I have to be honest, when he went round the outside of Hadjar there, I was like, yes, get in!” he said.
“And that is it, because it's just the drive. Also, that for me was a fantastic repay to the mechanics that had just worked like hell to get his car out.
“That's what they love – they will give everything if they see their driver giving everything back, and that was a cool one yesterday, so I think, yes, I did like that.”
It is precisely that blend of passion and precision that Audi is banking on as McNish settles into his new leadership role. But if Miami was any indication, the emotional stakes from the pit wall may prove just as demanding as anything he ever faced on the track.
Read also: Audi must ‘tidy up’ power unit issues, says McNish
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