Red Bull Racing were believed to be on the brink of a collapse following the Christian Horner sexual harassment case expose. While the team principal retained his place with the backing of the ownership, the people around him, who equally built the team from scratch, have lost faith in the team.
The first domino to fall was Adrian Newey, the veteran aero wizard. He is all set to leave Red Bull following the first quarter of the 2025 F1 season. While the team displayed a united front after speculations of an internal collapse, another top executive’s abrupt exit wreaked havoc just a week into the summer break.
Jonathan Wheatley Didn’t Plan On Leaving Red Bull 3 Months Ago
In a major bombshell update, Red Bull Racing announced the departure of sporting director Jonathan Wheatley following the conclusion of the 2024 F1 season. Wheatley will reportedly join Audi to take over as their team principal from the 2026 season onwards. Notably, Wheatley happened to be an integral part of the team and was even touted as Christian Horner’s successor when the whole sexual harassment saga unfolded earlier this year. Hence, his sudden departure left the fans and pundits shell-shocked. Notably, veteran F1 Journalist Joe Saward made an interesting revelation in his blog. Saward claimed that Wheatley had no plans to switch teams three months ago. He recalled a conversation he had with the sporting director at the 2024 Miami GP.
“As recently as Miami, Jonathan told me that he was not really interested in moving anywhere and was keen to know from where the rumours about him had come,” Joe Saward wrote. However, the journalist believes things changed quickly behind the scenes and perhaps the ambition to get promoted to a team principal role drove Jonathan Wheatley away. Interestingly, Audi was reportedly caught blindsided by Red Bull’s sudden announcement. They are yet to announce Wheatley’s onboarding. Regardless, Wheatley is expected to partner up with ex-Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto at Audi. Binotto, as Audi’s COO and CTO, will look after Audi’s factory in Hinwil and their technical department. He will also supervise the German manufactures’ car design and engine plant in Neuburg. On the other hand, Wheatley is likely to handle F1 duties alongside being the team’s media spokesperson.
Max Verstappen-Mercedes Rumours Reignited Following Wheatley’s Shock Exit
With two dominos already falling in the form of Adrian Newey and Jonathan Wheatley, speculations over Max Verstappen’s future are once again gaining momentum. Rumours have it that Max could be the next big personality to leave Red Bull as Toto Wolff is patiently waiting for him to switch seats in 2025 season.
With Lewis Hamilton leaving for Ferrari next year, Mercedes team principal has been dying to sign Max Verstappen. Despite his long-term contract with Red Bull, Wolff believes he has a real chance of acquiring Verstappen owing to his team’s internal politics and instability. While Max warned that he wanted everything to remain the same at Red Bull for him to stay, Wheatley’s departure won’t serve that purpose.
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