Christian Horner says there was no point in holding up Jonathan Wheatley, who got the opportunity to be Sauber/Audi F1 team principal.
The losing spree for Red Bull has continued on and amid some key figures like Adrian Newey, the team is to lose long-time sporting director Wheatley in 2025. He is due to become the F1 team principal at Audi and work alongside Mattia Binotto.
He is set to start in July of 2025 and until then, Binotto will perform some of his duties. The future of Alessandro Alunni Bravi is up in the air as well and a decision will be taken in due course, as is with the second driver to partner Nico Hulkenberg from 2025 onward.
For Red Bull and Horner, there was no point in holding Wheatley up after he was given the opportunity to be a team principal of a F1 outfit. Even though it is a loss to the, but such big opportunities don’t come by often. “Jonathan’s done a great job as initially team manager and then sporting director for us,” said the Brit.
“He’s been part of the journey over the last 19 years or in our 20th season. We’re very grateful for what he’s done and the effort that he’s put in during that time. an opportunity like this to become a team principal has come along. So we certainly didn’t look to hold him back in any way and we wish him the very best of luck for the future.
“But that, in turn, allows there to be progression within our own organisation. And we’ll be announcing very shortly the structure that is a succession to Jonathan’s moving to Audi,” summed up Horner. Red Bull is in a promotion spree internally and GianPiero Lambiase is one of key personnel to get it, in line with some of the responsibilities that Wheatley held.
He will report to Pierre Wache, while Lambiase in his senior role will have few reporting to him as well. Steve Knowles has been promoted to be team’s Acting Head of Sporting, while Rich Wolverson is now the Head of Race Team Operations.
Gerrard O’Reilly, meanwhile, takes up the Head of Race Team Support & Logistics role, while Phil Turner is promoted to Race Team Factory Operations Manager. All of these changes will be in effect from January 1 of 2025 when Wheatley starts his gardening leave.
On Sauber/Audi side, when asked about capabilities of Wheatley, Bravi added: “I can just judge Jonathan from outside because I don’t know him personally, but of course we can see that they have a strong impact and contribution to the last 18 years of success in Red Bull. Red Bull has been at least still the benchmark in Formula 1 as a team in terms of organisation, in terms of talents.
“And so I think that a person that has been in one of the key roles in this team can just bring a positive contribution and I expect that Jonathan will be leading our team together with Mattia. So for me, it’s a positive addition and we are looking forward to him next year.”
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