Red Bull have ‘completely blindsided’ F1 competitor with Jonathan Wheatley announcement

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Jonathan Wheatley is leaving Red Bull to take the team principal role at Audi, the team announced on Thursday afternoon. Wheatley will remain with the team for the rest of 2024 before undergoing a period of gardening leave in 2025.

Sporting director Wheatley has been with Red Bull since 2006, just like Adrian Newey. But now he’s following the chief designer out the door.

Newey is leaving in February 2025 after handing in his resignation in the spring. His next destination is yet to be confirmed, though Aston Martin are the favourites by all accounts.

Red Bull are leading both championships heading into the summer break. They’re 42 clear of McLaren in the constructors’, while Max Verstappen is 78 in front of Lando Norris in the drivers’.

However, all has not been well behind the scenes. Jos Verstappen has warned that Red Bull are at risk of ‘falling apart’, raising questions about his son’s long-term future.

READ MORE: All to know about Jonathan Wheatley as Audi/Sauber sign new team principal

The team say they will announce a new structure in due course. In the technical department, Pierre Wache and Enrico Balbo are poised to take on a greater role post-Newey.

Audi caught off guard as Red Bull announce Jonathan Wheatley move

After Red Bull broke the news, Audi were expected to issue their own statement welcoming Wheatley. But they weren’t ready to do so.

According to Auto Motor und Sport’s Tobi Gruner, they were ‘completely blindsided’ by the announcement. That’s why there hasn’t been an ‘official comment’.

Audi will enter F1 in 2026 when they take control of the Sauber team. It was only last week that they sacked Andreas Seidl and Oliver Hoffman.

Former Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto arrived to head up the F1 project. Assuming Wheatley’s move does go through, he’ll work under the Italian.

Who is Jonathan Wheatley?

Wheatley started his F1 career as a mechanic at Benetton (later Renault/Alpine) in the 1990s and was leading that department by the time Fernando Alonso won his first world championship in 2005. He then took the risk of joining the fledgling Red Bull project.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Sauber and Audi F1 chief Mattia Binotto

But it was a move that paid off handsomely, with Sebastian Vettel kick-starting a ‘quadruple double’ in 2010. It could be three in a row for Red Bull by the time Wheatley leaves, largely thanks to Verstappen.

One of the 57-year-old’s responsibilities is optimising Red Bull’s pitstops. And under his guidance, the Milton Keynes outfit have set the benchmark, servicing their cars in under two seconds on multiple occasions.

It’s unclear whether his exit is another sign of discontent in the team’s ranks. But when Newey left, it was reported that more senior Red Bull figures were considering their futures.