Brundle: Wheatley a good catch – but Aston must ‘settle down’

Sky F1’s Martin Brundle has backed Jonathan Wheatley’s expected move to Aston Martin, a team in dire need of stability in terms of its management structure.

Wheatley’s recent sudden exit from Audi’s Formula 1 project – for “personal reasons” – immediately sent the rumor mill into overdrive, with speculation linking the F1 veteran to Lawrence Stroll’s struggling Aston Martin outfit.

The silence from the Briton has done little to quiet the noise; if anything, it has amplified the sense that something significant is unfolding behind closed doors.

A Revolving Door of Leadership

The primary concern surrounding the Silverstone-based squad isn't their ambition, but rather their internal consistency. Under Stroll’s ownership, the team has seen a frequent shuffling of the deck, a trend that Brundle finds perplexing.

At the end of last year, Aston Martin managing technical partner Adrian Newey was appointed as team principal. But the design guru is now expected to focus his attention entirely on car performance, leaving the outfit’s day-to-day running to a potential new team principal, with Wheatly earmarked as the top man for the job.

"They've had such a revolving door of management at Aston Martin, haven't they? And some curious decisions I think they've taken about who does what and who's in charge," Brundle remarked.

Observing from the outside, the former Grand Prix driver noted that the current environment at Aston Martin creates a sense of instability that can paralyze a workforce.

"Really curious, frankly, just observing it and knowing some of the people involved,” added Brundle.

“I'm going to assume yes [Jonathan will move to Aston Martin]. Jonathan's a mate, but he doesn't want to talk at the moment because I'm sure he can't."

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The comparison to other high-pressure sporting environments was clear, as Brundle noted the psychological toll on the staff.

"Jonathan would be a good catch for them,” he said. “But they need to settle down and just stick with something.

“They look like a Premier League football team at the moment, just constantly changing who's in charge. And then what happens then? Everybody just runs for cover in the team and keeps their heads down because they don't know what's happening next, who they report to, what the strategy is, or whatever.

“So it's really a difficult situation for them all around."

The Newey connection and pragmatic solutions

If Wheatley does indeed make the jump, he won’t be entering a room of strangers. The prospect of reuniting with Newey could be the catalyst needed to transform Aston Martin from a collection of expensive parts into a cohesive championship contender.

"I don't think he would have abandoned the Audi project and moving the family to Switzerland and all of that lightly," Brundle speculated regarding the gravity of Wheatley’s decision.

"So let's assume when they've got through the negotiations or the gardening leave or whatever's involved here that he will end up at Aston Martin.

"Adrian Newey knows him incredibly well from the Red Bull days, of course. And I think Jonathan's pragmatism and hands-on approach would glue some things together there. I think it would be a smart move."

Despite the shock of the news, Brundle admitted that the signs were there if one knew where to look.

"It's not something I picked up on from him at all, but maybe moving back to the UK appeals to him and paying some tax," he joked.

"But yeah, that's a curious one. I didn't see that one coming from Jonathan if I'm honest, although I was told twice in Melbourne that that was going to happen, actually."

Whether Wheatley can provide the structural integrity Aston Martin craves remains to be seen, but in the chess game of the F1 paddock, his arrival would be a checkmate move for a team desperate for stability.

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