Wheatley reveals why he left Red Bull – One of the supposed reasons for the sacking of team boss Christian Horner, has been suggested to be the alleged ‘brain drain’ that the team has suffered in recent years. Long standing Chief engineer Rob Marshall was the first to hand in his notice in 2023 as McLaren offered him the role their technical director.
Adrian Newey was next to announce his departure last May, with the F1 car design guru suggesting he may take a sabbatical. Yet Aston Martin offered Newey something he always regretted not negotiating for with his previous three teams, that off shares in the racing outfit he will attempt to take to the front of the field.
That same weekend in Miami, the team’s sporting director Jonathan Wheatley was reported to be leaving the Red Bull team aswell. Whilst the reports were false, it triggered “difficulties” at work, Wheatley now reveals, yet the upside was the interest it created from other teams in the paddock.
Fake news led to approaches
“I’ll be honest with you, there was an article that came out in Miami last year,” said Wheatley to RacingNews365. “I wasn’t happy, and I had a very, very low media profile at the time, on purpose. And then suddenly my name was in all the papers, which created a difficult situation at work.”
Clearly Jonathan would have been asked about the Miami report boy then team boss Christian Horner, and his denial of its truth may have led to some questions about integrity within the senior management of the team.
“But what it did do, there were then a lot of approaches, and you start thinking about it [leaving] then, because people are obviously very interested in where you could be.
“I guess also my mindset there was, I’d signed a lock-in contract, and I would honour that from start to finish. I’m not the sort of person who signs a contract and then tries to wheedle my way out of it because there’s a slightly different offer. When I commit to a team, I commit to it. You know, 16 years at Benetton/Renault, 19 years at Red Bull, and I have no intention of leaving here [Sauber/Audi] either, so that opened up a lot of conversations with many teams.”
Audi F1 “exciting project”
Whilst Wheatley does not reveal who the other expressions of interest besides Audi, the timing of his announcement as the new team boss of the German auto brand’s F1 project coincided with his long term friend being announced as the head of the entire Audi F1 efforts.
Wheatley was announced the future team boss of the new Audi team just days after his friend Mattia Binotto, had assumed responsibility for the operational and technical activities of Sauber who are based in Hinwii, Switzerland. Jonathan reveals having heard the Audi plans, he was instantly sold on the opportunity.
“I didn’t need to leave the UK to further my career, but none of them [the talks he held] came close to how exciting the Audi project is,” said Wheatley. “I still get excited about it now. It’s still a pinch-yourself-moment when you realise that next year there’s going to be a complete transformation. You won’t recognise how different it looks.”
“And to be part of that journey again, like I was in my previous one from the very beginning, I can’t tell you how exciting it is. Nothing could have come close,” says the Audi team boss. It appears there was a sign closer to home which clinched the opportunity in Wheatley’s mid as he describes the surprise reaction from his wife.
Surprise that clinched the deal
Wheatley would need to base himself in Switzerland, which meant discussions with his wife over how they would manage this between them.
“Originally, I was going to have an apartment in Switzerland,” said Wheatley. “My wife and I were going to keep the house in the UK and visit each other as and when. But the moment Emma committed to coming to Switzerland as well, then the final piece in the puzzle fell in place,” concluded Wheatley.
The interesting aspect of all this is the fact that Wheatley was happy in his role at Red Bull. It was just a rogue report about his intentions in Miami 2024, which opened the door for what is an obvious and clear promotion.
Rob Marshall too had left for a big promotion, become McLaren’s technical director was a big step up and such an opportunity was not available at Red Bull. So much of the presumed Milton Keynes brain drain was merely engineers accepting top jobs elsewhere which were filled at Red Bull Racing.
“The biggest thing in sport”
Under Wheatley, Sauber have improved beyond measure this season, after last year’s disastrous first few races where pit stop wheel changes were taking up to half a minute. At the recent British Grand Prix, Sauber produced a fairy tale ending to the longest running podium saga the sport has ever seen.
In mixed weather conditions, Nico Hulkenberg was able to hold off a late charging Lewi Hamilton, to deliver Sauber’s first podium for over a decade and the first for the German meaning no longer is he the driver with the mosts starts and no podiums to his name.
After Monaco, Sauber were rooted to the foot of the constructors’ title race with just six points from eight rounds. Yet a P5 for Hulkenberg in Spain, followed by points in Canada and Austria before his Silverstone podium, now see Sauber on 41 points ahead of Alpine, Haas, Aston Martin and the Racing Bulls and just 18 points behind the fast starting Williams this year, who have slumped in recent weeks scoring just five points from the last four outings.
Wheatley claimed at the recent Festival of Speed that Audi’s F1 programme is is the “biggest” thing happening in motorsport.“Audi has always approached things differently by introducing new technology. It’s a thrill to be part of that journey.
“The Audi F1 project is probably the biggest thing in sport at the moment, the greatest good news story in sport. It’s fantastic for Formula 1, and I think everyone should be excited about it.”
Irony as Russell success may cost him his Mercedes seat
Much has been written in recent weeks about Max Verstappen leaving his Red Bull family from where all of his F1 success has come. He has release clauses in his contract which state should he lie fourth or lower in the drivers’ title race come the summer break, Max can extract himself from his contract which currently runs until the end of 2028.
Currently Verstappen is in third place, ironically 19 points ahead of George Russell who he could replace at Mercedes. Coming up before the summer shutdown are the Belgian and Hungarian Grand Prix and including the Sprint event this means there are some 58 points on offer.
Following the British Grand Prix, Verstappen’s private jet was tracked to Sardinia, where per chance Toto Wolff’s yacht was moored. Yet Mercedes have now denied there was any meeting between the pair and that them holidaying on the same Island was a mere coincidence….. READ MORE
With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
