Red Bull sporting director Jonathan Wheatley is to leave the team at the end of the current season and will join Audi as team principal when Sauber formally becomes their factory squad in 2026.
The shock news will be a huge blow for the championship-winning Red Bull team, where Wheatley is regarded as a key member of Christian Horner's management structure and the man in charge of keeping things running smoothly day-to-day.
Wheatley was one of the names in the mix to take over as team principal when Horner was under investigation for inappropriate behaviour toward a member of Red Bull team personnel at the start of the season.
He joined Red Bull in 2006 from Renault where he was chief mechanic. Over nearly two decades he become team manager and then sporting director as the team enjoyed two dominant spells with Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen.
One of the 57-year-old’s primary roles has been in optimising Red Bull’s pit stop performances which have set the benchmark with in-race services frequently clocking in at under two seconds.
Wheatley will be required to serve an extended period of gardening leave after exiting Red Bull to ensure that he can't take any critically sensitive technical or commercial information with him to his new post.
"It has been a long and successful relationship with Jonathan, over 18 years," noted Horner in a statement released by Red Bull on Thursday afternoon.
"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."
Wheatley has been reported to be increasingly interested in stepping up to the role of team principal, if not at Red Bull then elsewhere on the grid, much as James Vowles departed Mercedes to take over at Williams.
It's the second high profile departure of a key member of staff to hit Red Bull this season, with chief technical officer Adrian Newey also having handed in his notice.
"Red Bull is extremely strong and has a deep team," Horner insisted when asked if the squad was unravelling. "The departure gives us the opportunity to promote others within the team."
The team says it will announce a new structure in due course. In the technical department, Pierre Wache and Enrico Balbo are poised to take on a greater role following Newey's formal exit in February.
It's also the latest in a big shake-up of Audi's nascent F1 operation. Former McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl had been released by Audi last week, along with Audi chief representative Oliver Hoffmann after rumours of rifts between the pair.
Former Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto was appointed in the combined role of chief operating and chief technical officer, which means that Wheatley will report to Binotto when he assumes the team principal role at Hinwil.
However Audi was slow to issue a formal statement about the news, with Auto Motor und Sport journalist Tobi Gruner stating that the German manufacturer has been ‘completely blindsided’ by the timing of Red Bull's announcement.
Audi will confirm the exact tasks for the new team boss, with Binotto expected to concentrate on the strategic direction of the team and liaising between the two locations in Hinwil (chassis) and Neuburg (engine), while Wheatley will be in charge of the day-to-day race F1 team operations.
Wheatley himself was not quoted in the Red Bull statement, and was not immediately available for comment once the news broke, but subsequently issued quotes in the evening saying he was excited to be part of the Audi project..
Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter
