New Audi F1 boss reveals 'difficulty at work' trigger behind Red Bull exit

Jonathan Wheatley has revealed the 'difficulties' he experienced at Red Bull after speculation arose that he would be leaving the F1 team but which ultimately helped trigger his departure.

Last year's Miami Grand Prix weekend proved to be a very tough one for the then-Red Bull team principal Christian Horner. Adrian Newey had just announced he would be leaving, and a report then surfaced that Wheatley would also be following suit.

Wheatley cut an angry figure at the Hard Rock Stadium on the occasions he did surface. The surprising offshoot, however, is that with his name in the public domain, it sparked approaches from Red Bull's F1 rivals.

One of those was from Sauber. On August 1, 2024, Wheatley was confirmed as Sauber's new team principal, helping to spearhead the team's transition into Audi for next season.

Just a few days previously, good friend and former Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto was named as the chief operating and technical officer of Sauber Motorsport. In May this year, Binotto's responsibilities were expanded as he became head of the Audi F1 project.

Wheatley, whose contract did not allow him to join Sauber until April 1 this year, has explained the initial news report over the Miami GP weekend caused issues but ultimately worked in his favour.

"I'll be honest with you, there was an article that came out in Miami last year," said Wheatley, speaking to RacingNews365.

"I wasn't happy, and I had a very, very low media profile at the time, on purpose. And then suddenly my name was in all the papers, which created a difficult situation at work.

"But what it did do, there were then a lot of approaches, and you start thinking about it [leaving] then, because people are obviously very interested in where you could be.

"I guess also my mindset there was, I'd signed a lock-in contract, and I would honour that from start to finish. I'm not the sort of person who signs a contract and then tries to wheedle my way out of it because there's a slightly different offer.

"When I commit to a team, I commit to it. You know, 16 years at Benetton/Renault, 19 years at Red Bull, and I have no intention of leaving here [Sauber/Audi] either, so that opened up a lot of conversations with many teams."

Wheatley's final piece of the puzzle

Upon listening to what Audi had to offer in terms of its plans and future in F1, Wheatley was immediately sold.

"I didn't need to leave the UK to further my career, but none of them [the talks he held] came close to how exciting the Audi project is," said Wheatley.

"I still get excited about it now. It's still a pinch-yourself-moment when you realise that next year there's going to be a complete transformation. You won't recognise how different it looks.

"And to be part of that journey again, like I was in my previous one from the very beginning, I can't tell you how exciting it is. Nothing could have come close."

The clinching factor, however, came from closer to home.

Wheatley knew that to become team principal, he would have to uproot from the UK and move to Switzerland. That meant talks with his wife, Emma, as to what that would entail. Eventually, he was handed a delightful surprise.

"Originally, I was going to have an apartment in Switzerland," said Wheatley. "My wife and I were going to keep the house in the UK and visit each other as and when.

"But the moment Emma committed to coming to Switzerland as well, then the final piece in the puzzle fell in place."