Redbull have announced the departure of Sporting Director, Jonathan Wheatley to become the Team Principal of Audi.
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A Big Move for Jonathan Wheatley and Audi
Audi have been working on their F1 project for some time, after announcing their intentions in August 2022 to enter F1, with the German manufacturer purchasing a majority stake in the Sauber team in October of the same year.
Jonathan Wheatley’s move is similar in many ways to James Vowles decision to leave Mercedes to become Team Principal of Williams, Vowles was a valued and senior member of the Silver Arrows, who caught many people unawares of his decision to move away from Mercedes.
Wheatley will be in a similar boat to Vowles, in that he leaves a front running team after 18 years to head to a new team and a new position, one which will more than likely seem like a thankless task as he attempts to make the team competitive and winning points quickly and consistently.
Who is Johnathan Wheatley?
Jonathan Wheatly, is currently Redbull’s Sporting Director, a position that he has held since October 2018, he will continue in his role with Redbull till the end of the 2024 season, he will then enter into a period of gardening leave in 2025 before starting his new role at Audi.
Wheatly has been part of the Redbull team for 18, starting off as Team Manager, then moving up to Sporting Director.
This is another high profile for Redbull after acclaimed designer Adrian Newey announced his departure earlier in the year.
Jonathan was also considered to be Christian Horner’s right hand man within Redbull
Some Good News for Audi
The Audi project has had some unfavourable news recently, with the cars (currently running as StakeF1 not performing well and the Recent departure of Andreas Seidl and Oliver Hoffman, the general consensus has been that Senior figures higher up within the Audi project were concerned by the slow pace of the project.
Mattia Binotto was brought in to replace Andreas. Audi will hope that their changes and the hiring Wheatly can push the project forward to where they are required to be for 2026.
Christian Horner says:
It has been a long and successful relationship with Jonathan, over 18 years. His contribution to six World Constructors’ Titles and seven World Drivers’ Championship, first as Team Manager and latterly Sporting Director will forever be a marker in our Team history.
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