Red Bull insiders believe team are now losing someone just as important as Adrian Newey

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The speculation about where Adrian Newey will be going next season after announcing his departure from Red Bull Racing has never gone away.

At the moment, Newey’s most likely destination appears to be Aston Martin, but until a contract is signed and an announcement is made, every other team on the grid will be wondering if they can poach Formula 1’s most successful designer.

However, Adrian Newey isn’t the only member of senior Red Bull personnel who has announced his departure or moved on recently.

Red Bull’s performance has stagnated this season, with the likes of McLaren and Mercedes closing the gap with their update packages.

Max Verstappen has been deployed in a private testing session to try and solve their issues although they’ve not made a significant jump forward since that session.

A report from the Italian outlet Formu1a.uno has shared what Red Bull insiders are now saying about the personnel departing the team.

Rob Marshall headed to McLaren last year and his impact has been clear to see this season.

Christian Horner managed to tie down Pierre Wache to a new deal and Helmut Marko has extended his contract, securing Verstappen’s future for another year.

However, personnel within Red Bull believe that losing Jonathan Wheatley will have just as big an impact as Newey’s exit.

Wheatley will join Audi as their team principal when they arrive on the grid in 2026.

He joins alongside former Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto as they try to salvage the awful season Sauber are in this year, having failed to score a point in 2024.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Red Bull Racing from engine to Ford links

Red Bull insiders think Jonathan Wheatley is an equally big loss as Adrian Newey

The report from Formu1a.uno suggests Wheatley’s departure is seen as a huge blow by people within Red Bull.

They have compared Newey’s technical importance to Wheatley’s sporting intelligence and insiders think that makes them equally important to the current operation.

Newey’s taken a step back since announcing his decision to leave the team, concentrating on other projects within Red Bull.

However, Wheatley’s exit may see Red Bull create two positions to replace him which signifies just how big his role is within the team.

Verstappen’s race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase could replace Wheatley which may not go down too well with the Dutchman who has a unique relationship with his point of contact on the radio.

Wheatley’s Red Bull deal was nearing its conclusion and that means he’s expected to start at Audi no later than July 2025.

He wanted a new challenge and given he was going to replace Horner as team principal at Red Bull any time soon, Wheatley needed to leave to move on.

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

Audi have key decision to make on 2025 Sauber line-up before Jonathan Wheatley arrives

Jonathan Wheatley will be put on gardening leave when he leaves Red Bull, forcing him to sit and watch as Audi develops a Formula 1 team for him before their debut in 2026.

However, Sauber’s final season in F1 needs to be the immediate focus and right now Nico Hulkenberg is without a teammate for next year.

Valtteri Bottas could be retained by Sauber after looking certain to move on when they were initially pursuing Carlos Sainz.

The Finn’s teammate Zhou Guanyu is also growing in confidence that he’ll be in Formula 1 next year, although that could be with his old team Alpine.

Audi will want the strongest line-up possible to go into 2026 when a new team facing a new set of regulations will have to deal with plenty of tough challenges.

However, Wheatley’s been working towards becoming a team principal for decades and will feel prepared for whatever he comes up against once he leaves Red Bull.