What next for Audi and Jonathan Wheatley?

Depending on who you asked, Audi had been either blindsided by the departure of Jonathan Wheatley or had completely expected the Briton to move aside after just a year in charge. Nothing demonstrates the mixed messaging quite like the reactions of the drivers, when it was inevitably put to them on the Thursday of the Japanese GP weekend.

“To be honest [it didn’t surprise me] because I think inside the team we are very clear with this type of thing so it’s not something that got me as a surprise,” Gabriel Bortoleto cooed in response, to the approval of the press officer in attendance. “I’m not going to lie, it happened very quickly. He joined last year but again when you have personal things to put in place, that’s the priority.”

Perhaps he knew more than Nico Hulkenberg did. The news that Wheatley was due to leave Audi was broken by our colleague, Motorsport.com Italia’s Roberto Chinchero, with the expectation that the Briton was due to shift gears and move to Aston Martin.

“I found out together with the world – I found out last week on Thursday, when it popped out,” was Hulkenberg’s reflection of the Wheatley news, perhaps earning fewer PR credits than his younger team-mate. Not that the Hulk would care, of course. “Actually, I was in the sim that day and my mum sent me an article, I was between runs looking at my phone, I’m like, ‘Oh, shit!’”

Wheatley had been a galvanising force at Sauber before its transition to the Audi works team, and helped to steady the ship on-track after years of being underfunded and undermotivated by its inexorable slip towards the back of the field. Credited with turning Red Bull’s pitcrew into one of the slickest operations around, Wheatley helped to offer the same ethos, seeking greater attention to detail from the Sauber/Audi race team.

Officially, Wheatley cited personal issues as the reason for his departure, and Audi ultimately released him from his deal. Presumably, gardening leave will apply, during which Wheatley will likely move back to the UK after uprooting to Switzerland for the Audi job. This has been a perennial problem for the Team Formerly Known As Sauber, in convincing prospective engineers and personnel to leave their homes for a new life near Lake Zurich.

CEO Mattia Binotto says that, for the time being, Audi is not going to roll the dice on a new team principal – the ex-Ferrari boss is going to continue the job himself. That said, Binotto is looking for a ‘number two’ to ensure the race team is in safe hands when the Swiss-born Italian is based in the factory.

Since publication in Autosport magazine, Audi has announced Allan McNish as its new F1 racing director who will report into Binotto - ed

Bortoleto gave an on-message response to the news; Binotto is now looking for a ‘number two’

Photo by: Andy Hone/ LAT Images via Getty Images

“I will keep the role, but I will need someone to support me at the race weekends,” he confirmed. “I will not be always at the race weekend myself. I need to focus most at the factory where there is the most to transform.”

Binotto stated that Wheatley had an “important impact” on the team, but feels it had very quickly overcome the void across the Suzuka weekend. This is a team that is used to operating without a de facto team principal after all, but Binotto’s presence ensured there was no leadership vacuum to speak of.

In fact, it all rather demonstrated why Wheatley might have been so keen to leave; with Binotto’s influence across the technical departments and Audi’s oversight of commercial matters, there was less meat to the role compared to the traditional team principal responsibilities. 

So, what’s Wheatley’s next move? Aston Martin has attempted to sever any potential links in a manner that in no way closes the door to Wheatley joining as team principal. While Adrian Newey has the team principal reins, it is not inconceivable that he wants to scale back to his more familiar ‘managing technical partner’ duties and leave the day-to-day to someone else.

Binotto stated that Wheatley had an “important impact” on the team, but feels it had very quickly overcome the void across the Suzuka weekend

It feels more like a job that Wheatley could get his teeth into; while the team has the likes of Newey and Enrico Cardile leading the technical department, Mike Krack running the trackside operations, and Andy Cowell looking after the technical partners, Aston feels as though it’s missing a binding agent. Newey certainly thinks so, having apparently suggested Wheatley for the role himself…

As for Audi, it seems to be trucking on regardless. Binotto has identified the next steps and, while the R26 chassis appears to be strong, the powertrain is gasping for an Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities-prompted package since it (understandably) is a little down on power versus the units from more established manufacturers.

The team is confident that it can continue to progress without Wheatley, and it has the liberty of a free month to define a revised management structure for the rest of 2026 – in the meantime, Wheatley gets a bit of time to step off the F1 hamster wheel.

This article is one of many in the monthly Autosport magazine. For more premium content, take a look at the May 2026 issue and subscribe today. 

Wheatley and Newey go way back, and the latter reckons his former Red Bull colleague would be a valuable asset at Aston Martin

Photo by: Carl Bingham/LAT Images/Getty Images