Juan Pablo Montoya raises ‘political’ concern for why Jonathan Wheatley has left Audi

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Juan Pablo Montoya thinks living in Switzerland might not have been the only reason why Jonathan Wheatley has left Audi, as team politics could also have been an issue.

Audi announced this Friday that Wheatley had resigned from his role as their team principal with immediate effect, with the team citing “personal reasons” as the motive for his sudden departure. It has been suggested that Wheatley’s wife had struggled to settle in Switzerland.

Wheatley and his family only moved to Switzerland last April, as he took over Sauber ahead of Audi rebranding the Hinwil squad to debut in F1 in 2026. It marked the Briton’s first time working for a team not based in England, following stints at Benetton, Renault and Red Bull.

The 58-year-old’s sudden departure from his role leading Audi also comes amid reports that Aston Martin are interested in hiring him to replace Adrian Newey as their team principal. It has even been claimed that Wheatley has agreed to join Aston Martin, but no deal is signed.

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Juan Pablo Montoya thinks Jonathan Wheatley may have felt Audi are ‘too political’

Montoya thinks Wheatley’s resignation shows Audi are now facing the same challenges that Sauber encountered with trying to get Formula 1 personnel to move from mainly England to Switzerland. But it also suggests Wheatley did not like how political the team is under Audi.

READ MORE: Who is Jonathan Wheatley? All to know about the former Audi team principal

There have been rumours of rifts in Wheatley’s relationship with Mattia Binotto, the overall project leader of Audi’s F1 team. Blick reports that Binotto and Wheatley had been clashing over the boundaries of their responsibilities, but Audi have downplayed any power struggle.

“It would have to be, first of all, a chance to go back and live in the UK,” Montoya told RacingNews365. “I think that has always been one of the harder things when they were Sauber, getting the right people to work there.

“Yes, Switzerland is amazing and everything, but when you’ve been in racing and you’ve always been involved in the UK, going to live in a different place is a bit of a shock.

“And I think the way Audi and Sauber worked together, now everything is Audi, maybe it’s too political. If he gets the opportunity to go and do something else, it’s fine.”

Wheatley will now move back to England, while Binotto has assumed the responsibilities of team principal at Audi alongside his role as their overall project leader. Binotto always held the final say, but Wheatley never let on in public if he thought his autonomy was restricted.

The true reasons for Wheatley’s sudden exit from Audi will likely only emerge the next time he faces the media, potentially wearing an Aston Martin shirt. Yet Audi could hold Wheatley to a period of gardening leave through 2026, delaying any return to the paddock until 2027.