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5 hours ago
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Jonathan Wheatley has left his role as Audi team principal, the Formula One team have confirmed, paving the way for his anticipated switch to the same role at Aston Martin.
Wheatley’s arrival would allow the current Aston Martin principal, Adrian Newey, to return his focus to the technical and design areas in which he excels after the team endured a disastrous start to the new season.
Wheatley, who previously spent almost 20 years at Red Bull, had been team principal at Audi (in its former guise as Sauber last season) for just over a year. However, with Aston Martin in dire straits, the team are believed to have acted decisively to bring Wheatley aboard to take the helm.
Aston Martin have opened the season without finishing a race. Their Honda engine suffers a severe vibration problem that has a knock-on effect in damaging the batteries and in transferring vibration into the chassis, which Newey admitted was in danger of causing permanent nerve damage to the drivers. At the last round in China, Fernando Alonso retired the car saying he could not feel his hands and feet.
The team and Honda have a huge mountain to climb, made more complex by their management structure. Newey, the pre-eminent designer of his generation, had taken on the role of team principal last November, alongside his official position as managing technical partner, after issues with the then principal, Andy Cowell, in what was considered to be only a temporary arrangement.
Allowing Newey to step back from the forward-facing principal role and its wide-ranging duties will give him a chance to refocus on maximising the car. Cowell, who was formerly at Mercedes where he enjoyed enormous success, remains as chief strategy officer and is working with Honda to help them address their engine problems.
Audi, who are making their debut in F1 this season having taken over Sauber, have stated that Wheatley will leave with immediate effect and that the current head of their F1 organisation, the former Ferrari chief Mattia Binotto, will continue to lead the team while taking over additional responsibilities as team principal.
A statement read: “Due to personal reasons, Jonathan Wheatley will depart the team. The team thanks Jonathan for his contribution to the project and wishes him the best for his future endeavours.”
Aston Martin have yet to confirm Wheatley is joining, nor has either party announced whether he will be required to complete a period of gardening leave.
However, Aston Martin did, rather unusually, issue a statement shortly after Audi’s that came directly from the team’s owner, Lawrence Stroll, making a point of his commitment to Newey, while allowing for the potential accommodation of Wheatley in a senior position.
“We do things differently here, and while we don’t currently adopt the traditional team principal role that you see elsewhere – it is by design,” Stroll said. “As the most successful engineer in the history of the sport, Adrian’s primary focus is on the strategic and technical leadership where he excels.
“He is supported by a highly skilled senior leadership team to deliver on all aspects of the business, both at the campus and trackside. We are regularly approached by senior executives of other teams who wish to join Aston Martin Aramco, but in keeping with our policy, we do not comment on rumour and speculation.”
