Lando Norris
McLaren
Mercedes
Red Bull
Ferrari
Williams
Racing Bulls
Aston Martin
Haas
Alpine
Audi should look at Christian Horner to ‘fill the gap’ left by Jonathan Wheatley, Juan Pablo Montoya says. The team announced last week that Wheatley was leaving with immediate effect.
Wheatley is expected to join Aston Martin once he has completed a period of gardening leave. Lawrence Stroll had been speaking to Horner, who has been out of work since Red Bull sacked him last July, but Adrian Newey was opposed to a reunion.
Horner has considered buying a stake in Alpine as he eyes a return to F1, but he now faces competition from both Mercedes and New York Mets owner Steve Cohen.
Audi confirm Jonathan Wheatley’s exit – Who should take over as their team principal?
Christian Horner could ‘deliver’ exactly what Audi need
Audi have confirmed that Mattia Binotto will assume Wheatley’s responsibilities going forward, in addition to the CEO role he was already carrying out. As Montoya explained to talkSPORT, though, this wasn’t the Italian’s vision when he first joined the team.
Montoya has previously called for Aston Martin to sign Horner but now believes that Audi ‘need’ him. Red Bull may have been struggling when he left, but he still delivered eight constructors’ titles over his 20-year tenure.
Wheatley and Binotto clashed behind the scenes, which points to a power struggle. Horner is known to want even more authority at his next team than he enjoyed at Red Bull.
“Mattia has an uphill battle,” said Montoya. “I don’t think he wanted to be fully involved. I think he wanted to be in the background. I would assume they’re probably looking at somebody to come and fill that gap.
“They need somebody like Christian to do that. I think people underestimate what Christian’s done, and for how long he did at Red Bull. You might like him, you might hate him, but he could deliver.”
F1 teams warned that signing Christian Horner could hurt their reputation
Audi exceeded expectations on their F1 debut at the Australian Grand Prix when Gabriel Bortoleto scored points, but they still haven’t managed to get both of their cars on the starting grid for a full race.
While Audi have not shown a concrete interest in Horner up to this point, they had little reason to do so while the Binotto/Wheatley tandem was still in place. Perhaps it is now an option that they will explore.
However, Ralf Schumacher has warned F1 teams about signing Horner. He’s concerned it will diminish their capacity to recruit new staff.
Horner has also considered setting up his own team, but it seems his preference is to invest in an existing operation. That would also be a crucial condition of any deal with Audi.
Audi bought 100% of the Sauber team, then sold a significant minority stake, believed to be around 30%, to the Qatar Investment Authority.
Receive exclusive F1 news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
