Just two races into the Formula 1 season, Jonathan Wheatley is departing Audi.
In a statement just released by the team, Wheatley is leaving as team principal with “immediate effect.” Mattia Binotto, the head of the Audi F1 project and former Ferrari team principal, will slide into that role. According to Audi, he is departing for “personal reasons.”
“We are grateful to Jonathan Wheatley for his contribution to the project during the crucial entry phase and wish him all the best for the future,” said Gernot Döllner, CEO of AUDI AG and Chairman of the Board of Management of Audi Motorsport AG. “Mattia Binotto and the team will continue to pursue the path we have chosen with determination. Our focus remains unchanged: we are concentrating all our efforts on building a team competing at the highest level that will challenge for world championships in Formula 1 by 2030. We will continuously develop our organizational structures to achieve our shared goal in a sustainable manner.”
Wheatley’s departure as team principal comes as rumors swirl around Aston Martin, and the future of their team principal position. Earlier this week reports surfaced that Aston Martin is looking for a new team principal to replace Adrian Newey, who has been serving in that role alongside his duties as managing technical director. Aston Martin has gotten off to a nightmarish start this season, with both Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso withdrawing early in both the Australian Grand Prix and the Chinese Grand Prix due to technical problems.
Specifically, the Honda power units on the AMR26 are causing such a severe vibration inside the car, that both Alonso and Stroll are reportedly risking permanent nerve damage if they drive a complete race distance.
According to reports, Aston Martin is hoping that allowing Newey to focus on the technical improvements necessary to get the AMR26 up to speed will allow for a quick reversal of their fortunes. And according to those same reports, Wheatley has been linked with the potential team principal role at Aston Martin.
So now we wait to see if those reports are indeed true, in the wake of this news.
