Written by Owen Bradley
Jonathan Wheatley, Red Bull F1's Sporting Director, is leaving Red Bull to become the Audi F1 Team Principal in 2026.
Wheatley has been at Red Bull for 18 years, and has contributed largely to the team's success in his roles as the Team Manager and Sporting Director. He has worked with the team as they achieved six Constructors World Championships and seven Drivers' Championships.
Wheatley will continue working with Red Bull in 2024, before being placed on gardening leave for 2025.
Red Bull Team Principal, Christian Horner, made this statement: "It has been a long and successful relationship with Jonathan, over 18 years. His contribution to six World Constructors' Titles and seven World Drivers' Championships, first as Team Manager and latterly Sporting Director will forever be a marker in our team history."
"Everyone at Oracle Red Bull Racing and Red Bull Technology wish him the best in his new role and would like to place our thanks to Jonathan. Red Bull Racing have tremendous strength and depth and this provides an opportunity to elevate others within the team. We will announce a new Team structure in the coming weeks."
This announcement that Wheatley will join Audi F1 as Team Principal comes just a week on from the announcement of Mattia Binotto also joining the Audi F1 project as chief operating and chief technical officer at Sauber and later, Audi.
This is also another major announcement for Red Bull, who announced earlier this year that Adrian Newey will also be leaving the team after nearly two decades. It appears that after almost 20 years with the team, some of the senior personnel will be exiting the Milton Keynes based team.
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