Red Bull’s long-time sporting director Jonathan Wheatley will leave the world champions after this season to become Audi’s F1 team principal.
Wheatley, who has been involved with the team for the vast majority of their existence, will join Audi’s factory F1 team for the start of the 2026 season following a year of gardening leave with Red Bull in 2025.Having started at the Milton Keynes-based team as a team manager, Wheatley has most recently worked as sporting director for Red Bull.
Christian Horner, team principal of Red Bull, thanked Wheatley for his efforts over his tenure with the team, having been involved with all of their championship titles.
“It has been a long and successful relationship with Jonathan over 18 years”, Horner said.
“Jonathan will remain in his position until the end of the 2024 season, as the team seek to defend both our world drivers’ and world constructors’ titles successfully. A period of gardening leave will follow in 2025.
“Everyone at Red Bull Racing and Red Bull Technology wish him all the best in his new role and would like to place our thanks to Jonathan. Red Bull Racing have tremendous strength and depth and this provides opportunity to elevate others within the team. We will announce a new team structure in the coming weeks.”
Wheatley is the latest major figure in Red Bull to leave the team in 2024 after chief designer Adrian Newey was also confirmed to be departing earlier this year.
Audi will evolve the current Sauber team into their factory F1 outfit when the German marque joins F1 as a power unit manufacturer as the overhauled 1.6L V6 turbo power unit regulations come into force in 2026. Audi announced last month that former Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto will become the team’s chief operating and chief technical officer, with Sauber CEO Andreas Seidl departing the project.
In a statement, Audi CEO Gernot Dollner confirmed that they had signed Wheatley to lead their team into their inaugural season.
“With the appointment of Jonathan and Mattia we have taken a decisive step towards our entry into Formula 1,” said Dollner.
“I am convinced that with the two of them, we have been able to combine an extremely high level of competence for Audi. Their experience and their ability will help us to get a foothold quickly in the tough competitive world of Formula 1.”
Wheatley said that he was “extremely proud” of what he had accomplished during his team at Red Bull.
“The opportunity to play an active part in Audi’s entry into Formula 1 as head of a factory team is a uniquely exciting prospect, and I am looking forward to the challenge,” Wheatley said.
“Also I am glad to be working together with Mattia, whom I have known for many years and who is the right person to collaborate with in this exciting project.”
Nico Hulkenberg has been confirmed as the first driver to race for Audi into 2026, joining Sauber at the end of this current season. His team mate for 2025 and beyond is yet to be announced.
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BLS (@brightlampshade)
1st August 2024, 13:55
More big names jumping ship, could be very different looking podiums come 2026.
bernasaurus (@bernasaurus)
1st August 2024, 14:35
It really is quite an exodus. The only one glued to the floor is seemingly Checo.
Ruben
1st August 2024, 15:02
Whaha, imagine Checo checking into RBR HQ on a monday morning, super happy and mostly relieved still be a RBR-driver, only to find that literally everone else has left.
David BR (@david-br)
1st August 2024, 18:46
And a note on the table with the catering bill :)
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
2nd August 2024, 7:05
Ahah, red bull shutting down, restarting with a different name, with only perez left in the old team!
AMPED
1st August 2024, 17:02
So just like has happened at every team at one point or another. People forget that people switch teams when there is an opportunity to create a false narrative.
Retired (@jeff1s)
1st August 2024, 14:48
How on Max is staying in this sinking ship till 2028 ? Never seen it coming, always thought he’d leave at the end of 2025.
Nick T.
2nd August 2024, 10:52
This must be devastating news for RBR. They truly do seem to be falling apart now.
Seems Max’s glowing personality and Horner’s Cocoa Puffs aren’t enough to keep personnel around anymore.
JR Love (@dermechaniker)
1st August 2024, 14:52
“Michael, I’m quite cross…”
Jonathan Parkin
1st August 2024, 15:01
Is that a reference to Abu Dhabi 2021
JR Love (@dermechaniker)
1st August 2024, 16:22
Silverstone 2021.
I miss quoted him, it was “…and I’m feeling really cross about it.”
I felt this entire exchange between Massi, Horner, Wheatley, Toto, etc. was the moment that entire season turned into an FIA lobbying exercise for all of us to bear witness to.
It’s strange looking back/listening to it now. It makes me absolutely cringe.
I am so thankful they put the kibosh on that nonsense.
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
1st August 2024, 15:20
Having to stay till the end of the season and then take a year’s gardening leave?
Sounds like Jonathan didn’t have any juicy secrets to use as leverage in his negotiations then.
Jere (@jerejj)
1st August 2024, 16:43
A period of gardening leave rather than necessarily over the entire next year.
Gerrit
1st August 2024, 21:33
This “gardening leave” is a strange one common in technical employment. Basically Red Bull are paying him to stay home for twelve months, where with a couple of sketch pads and pencils (or solid modelling software) he can spent uninterrupted time in front of the fire to play around with ideas, designs and construction methods to take to Audi.
Would be cheaper and easier to just let him go on day one. Use that years salary to employ a keen young bloke with fresh ideas.
Nick T.
2nd August 2024, 10:54
Agreed. It’s one of those “we do it cause it’s what done things.” It’d maybe make sense if they were still dominating.
notagrumpyfan
1st August 2024, 15:26
Who’s gonna report to whom and who will do what?
Wheatley, Binotto, Bravi.
anon
1st August 2024, 15:52
Wheatley sits above Binotto, since the latter is the chief technical officer and would be leading the technical departments of the team.
As for Bravi, he would report to Wheatley too. Bravi’s role is oriented towards the commercial and administrative functions of the team, so he doesn’t have any overlap with Binotto.
notagrumpyfan
1st August 2024, 16:19
Thank you, but that would be quite a demotion for both.
Binotto, as ex team principal for Ferrari, was just last week announced to ‘head up the project’ and now he has to (start preparing to) move over and focus only on the technical parts (although clearly his forte).
Also for Bravi it would be a bit weird (if he stays on board). AFAIK his current title is MD, and it would be a clear step back if he now becomes some kind of back-office manager reporting to Wheatley.
Let’s be honest Sauber/Audi are not US companies where all starting trainees are being called SVP on day 1 ;)
notagrumpyfan
1st August 2024, 16:22
PS I just saw this on the official F1 site:
Constantijn Blondel
1st August 2024, 16:27
Thx for the update. Our posts crossed :)
anon
1st August 2024, 17:06
notagrumpyfan, the FIA’s definitions in the “Competitor Staff Registration System” defines the team principal role as “the competitor’s most important decision-maker”. That would indicate Wheatley should have seniority over Binotto – otherwise, if the latter is actually the most important decision maker within the team, then Binotto should have been defined as the team principal.
Whilst some might view it as a demotion for Binotto, he has traditionally been a senior technical figure – he spent longer as the Chief Technical Officer for Ferrari than he did as team principal, so it is a role that he has more experience in (and, from some of the discussions about his interests, it sounds as if he preferred a role that had a stronger technical focus, so he’d probably prefer that position).
As for Bravi, when he was appointed to the team, the public statement said that he would “focus on marketing, communications, sales, legal, IT and finance.”. Given that Bravi was originally appointed to Sauber as the head of their legal department, being moved up to the Managing Director role is still a promotion, given the additional responsibilities that he took on with that role.
Additionally, I think that some sites failed to notice that, when Binotto was appointed, Audi did also explicitly state that they were restructuring the team as well. Seidl has effectively removed the team principal role and seemed to be trying to distribute those functions amongst other staff; the latest announcements indicate that Audi has moved back to Sauber’s more traditional operating structure.
notagrumpyfan
1st August 2024, 18:45
I see where you get that from, but that seems to be only regarding topics regarding the competition.
E.g. At McLaren Andrea Stella is the Team Principal, whereas Zak Brown is CEO and I assume his boss. I would expect Stella to represent McLaren regarding F1 competition items, whereas Zak Brown represents the overall company towards the Board and Shareholders.
I believe Seidl had both these responsibilities at Sauber up until now.
MichaelN
1st August 2024, 16:49
Not a fan of Binotto, but he can do decent work if he can focus on his strengths (i.e. not playing team principal). He still didn’t win anything of note, mind – but it wasn’t outright bad like his time as team principal.
Also wouldn’t be surprised if the Audi-Binotto link played a role in Sainz going to Williams. He probably doesn’t want a repeat of that experience.
Nick T.
2nd August 2024, 10:56
Couldn’t agree more, Michael.
Constantijn Blondel
1st August 2024, 16:26
The competition says that “Wheatley will thus report to Binotto when he assumes the team principal role at the Hinwil team […] ”
( https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/wheatley-to-leave-red-bull-will-become-audi-f1-team-principal/10641053/ )
Jere (@jerejj)
1st August 2024, 16:43
I didn’t see a move like this coming at all.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
2nd August 2024, 7:29
I guess this will shock simon!
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
2nd August 2024, 7:29
But also unexpected for me, looks like quite a few people are leaving red bull, not sure how long verstappen will stay at this point, considering the loss of competitiveness.
notagrumpyfan
2nd August 2024, 7:58
It was already (all but) announced in the round-up back in May.
Hopefully, you are doing well otherwise ;)
David
1st August 2024, 18:16
What a gig!! In my industry, when I switch jobs I don’t even get a day off, let alone a year. Nice!
notagrumpyfan
1st August 2024, 18:46
and fully paid at that ;)
Mooa42
2nd August 2024, 2:44
Maybe you don’t have a big enough garden?
Nick T.
2nd August 2024, 10:57
lol
Anyway, yeah, that gardening leave is a sweet deal for these top engineers and managers.
Illusive (@illusive)
2nd August 2024, 16:10
The guy looks like he could command a battalion let alone a F1 team.
FlyingLap (@flyinglapp)
3rd August 2024, 0:12
At least Audi didn’t hire Binotto.
Nick T.
3rd August 2024, 3:06
Is the joke that they did?