Jos Verstappen said something ‘prophetic’ about Red Bull before Jonathan Wheatley exit

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Jonathan Wheatley is leaving his post as sporting director at Red Bull to join Audi. The world champions broke the news on Thursday, and confirmation from Audi eventually followed.

Wheatley will remain with the team for the rest of the 2024 season as they try to secure a third consecutive constructors’ championship. They have seen their lead over McLaren shrink to 42 points heading into the summer break.

The 57-year-old will then undertake a period of gardening leave before he joins the Audi project ahead of their 2026 arrival on the F1 grid. They’re taking control of the struggling Sauber team.

In their statement, Red Bull affirmed their confidence in their remaining pool of senior staff. But from the outside, this will be viewed as a fresh blow to Christian Horner.

It’s only been three months since chief designer Adrian Newey handed in his resignation. Like Wheatley, Newey had been with the team since 2006.

Many are wondering what these headline departures could mean for the future of star driver Max Verstappen. Verstappen has the option to leave before 2026 under an exit clause in his contract.

Jos Verstappen warned that Red Bull would be ‘torn apart’

Max’s father Jos has been in dispute with team principal Horner for much of this year. There was one particularly high-profile spat at the Austrian GP, when Horner allegedly prevented the former F1 driver from taking part in the legends’ parade.

Verstappen senior was subsequently seen entering the Mercedes hospitality unit in the paddock. Toto Wolff has been the leading suitor for the world champion in the event that he becomes available.

Speaking to the Daily Mail back in March, his father warned of an impending ‘explosion’ at Red Bull: “The team is in danger of being torn apart,” he said. “It can’t go on the way it is. It will explode.”

As Formu1a.uno point out, those words ‘seemed exaggerated at the beginning of the year’. But now, five months on, ‘they appear more prophetic than ever’.

Former Red Bull employee warns of ‘collapse’ after Jonathan Wheatley exit

This echoes the view of one ex-Milton Keynes engineer, who believes the F1 paddock is witnessing the ‘collapse’ of Red Bull right now. It remains to be seen whether any more high-profile figures follow Wheatley out the door.

Red Bull have enjoyed a period of historic dominance in F1’s ground effect era. Verstappen put together what was statistically the best season of all time in 2023, winning 19 out of 23 races.

That translated to a win percentage of 86.3, comfortably beating the previous record of 75% held by Alberto Ascari. But it may be that off-track upheaval puts a stop to the team’s sporting success.

Horner has prevailed in the power struggle at Red Bull, establishing himself firmly above Helmut Marko in the pecking order. But questions may be asked about his leadership if he can’t hold onto some of the team’s biggest assets.