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Aston Martin’s interest in hiring Jonathan Wheatley as their latest team principal has resurfaced concerns in parts of the paddock about how they stay within the cost cap.
The Silverstone outfit are in talks to hire Wheatley following his sudden resignation from the same role at Audi last week. Audi confirmed that the Briton had left his post with immediate effect last Friday, after the first reports that Aston Martin are interested in him materialised.
Audi cited “personal reasons” for Wheatley’s decision to resign, with it said that his wife had struggled to settle in Switzerland. The 58-year-old only relocated from England to Hinwil last April when he took over Sauber, ahead of Audi transforming the team into their works entry.
Aston Martin now hope to offer Wheatley a return to England, as they look to take the team principal role off Adrian Newey to let him focus on improving their car. It has been reported that Wheatley has already agreed to join Aston Martin, but he has not signed a contract yet.
Audi confirm Jonathan Wheatley’s exit – Who should take over as their team principal?
Rival F1 teams do not understand how Aston Martin do not breach the cost cap
Wheatley is now in talks with Audi to decide the length of his gardening leave. It was initially thought that Audi could force Wheatley to spend the rest of 2026 on gardening leave before he joins Aston Martin. But it is now said that Wheatley could join Aston Martin from August.
READ MORE: Who is Jonathan Wheatley? All to know about the former Audi team principal
However, Auto Action reports that Aston Martin’s interest in naming Wheatley as their latest team principal has resurfaced concerns elsewhere in the paddock about how the Silverstone crew do not break F1’s cost cap, due to their reputation for offering staff ‘significant salaries’.
Aston Martin have developed a reputation among their rivals for paying big wages to tempt high-level personnel to relocate to Silverstone. Team owner Lawrence Stroll is also eager to distance Aston Martin from claims that they strive to poach senior staff from rival F1 teams.
Stroll is also understood to have issued Aston Martin’s statement backing Newey amid their links with Wheatley last week as part of his ‘strategy’ to dismiss the allegations. He wants to paint the picture that high-ranking staff from rival F1 teams are looking to join Aston Martin.
“We are regularly approached by senior executives of other teams who wish to join Aston Martin,” Stroll said in a team-issued statement. “But in keeping with our policy, we do not comment on rumour and speculation.”
When contacted by F1 Oversteer, an Aston Martin spokesperson said the reported concerns that rival teams have about how they work within F1’s cost cap, despite offering large wages to tempt staff to join, are “rumour and speculation, and not something that we comment on”.
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Formula 1 has set the cost cap at $215m (£160m) for the 2026 campaign, as this year marks the start of a new regulatory cycle. The cost cap came into force in 2021, and it was initially set at $145m (£108m) but changes year-on-year based on the number of Grands Prix held.
The cost cap covers most aspects related to running an F1 team – except driver wages, the wages of the top three highest-paid staff members, employee bonuses and sick pay, travel costs, marketing and hospitality costs, entry and licence fees and non-F1 related activities.
Aston Martin are said to pay Newey up to £30m a year, including bonuses and add-ons, after Stroll went all-in to land the most successful car designer in history. The Silverstone crew are also said to pay chief strategy officer Andy Cowell, formerly the team principal, £12m a year.
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