Audi

The simple answer is that the top management of Aston Martin and Audi have felt things were not working at various junctures and decided to act.

As far as Audi is concerned, it was clear some time ago that not enough investment was being put into Sauber early enough for the team to be in good shape when Audi officially entered F1 in 2026.

Andreas Seidl, the first chief executive officer, had been concerned about that for a while, and there was a bit of a power struggle between him and Oliver Hoffmann, the chairman of the boards of all Sauber companies, through 2023 and 2024.

It was expected one would win out. In the end, Audi decided to remove them both, and appoint Mattia Binotto and Jonathan Wheatley in a dual leadership role, Binotto as chief operating and technical officer and Wheatley as team principal.

Many in F1 raised their eyebrows at that – dual leaderships rarely work. Add in that at Audi there was another senior figure, in chief executive officer Adam Baker, and many felt the leadership of Audi looked unwieldy.

So it was not a massive surprise when that structure was streamlined, with Baker removed, and Binotto made head of the Audi F1 project under Audi CEO Gernot Dollner.

That was supposed to be that. Binotto was in overall charge, Wheatley ran the race team.

But when Wheatley decided that he wanted to come back to the UK, his talks with Aston Martin leaked, and he and Audi agreed to split with immediate effect.

As for Aston Martin, Lawrence Stroll is an ambitious man, he wants success, and he has invested a lot of money in it.

So it’s hardly a surprise that, when he feels things are not working, he takes action.

All the changes he has made have seemed logical on one level or another. There was clearly a problem with car design – after they made a big leap forward in 2023 under new technical director Dan Fallows, the team failed to develop the car effectively in season. They started 2024 less competitively and fell backwards again.

At the same time, Stroll was recruiting Newey. Why wouldn’t he, given he was available having left Red Bull? And with Newey on board, and the team stumbling under Fallows, it’s hardly a surprise Fallows would be considered surplus to requirements.

Same with the leadership. Mike Krack became team principal but the team was not moving in a convincing direction. Hence Stroll looked for change. Andy Cowell is highly regarded; his recruitment made sense.

Stroll would not have expected a clash between Cowell and Newey, but he got one, so another change was made.

Each change is understandable in isolation. But success in F1 is founded on stability not disruption and there has been little evidence of that at either team for the past two or three years.

Audi team principal Jonathan Wheatley has left the team with immediate effect.

The development comes a day after news broke that the 58-year-old Englishman had been approached by Aston Martin to be their team principal.

A statement from Audi said Wheatley was leaving for “personal reasons”.

Mattia Binotto will take over the responsibilities of team principal in addition to his role as head of the Audi F1 project while the company takes its time to consider its next steps.

The move comes after an Audi board meeting on Friday with Wheatley and Binotto in attendance.

Wheatley had been under contract with Audi for at least the remainder of this year but a decision was made that he should leave immediately. It is the third management restructure in less than two years at Audi.

He will have to serve a period of ‘gardening leave’ before joining another team, the length of which will have to be negotiated between himself, Audi and potentially a future employer.

Key among Wheatley’s reasons for leaving were a desire to return to the UK by the end of this year.

Audi are not expected to look for a direct replacement for Wheatley, and are more likely to appoint someone to a role that is in charge of running the race team while Binotto retains overall control.

Aston Martin have not confirmed their interest in Wheatley but owner Lawrence Stroll has made him an offer to run the team under managing technical partner Adrian Newey.

Newey, who joined Aston Martin in March last year, has been acting as team principal since the position’s former occupant Andy Cowell was moved into a different position.

Cowell is now focusing on helping engine partner Honda resolve its problems with its new engine, which has started the 2026 season lacking performance and reliability.

In a statement on Friday, Stroll re-emphasised his commitment to and relationship with Newey, who is regarded as the greatest F1 designer in history.

Stroll said: “I would like to reaffirm that Adrian Newey is my partner and an important shareholder. He is AMR’s managing technical partner, and he and I have a true partnership built on a shared vision of success for the company.

“We do things differently here, and while we don’t currently adopt the traditional team principal role that you see elsewhere – it is by design.

“As the most successful engineer in the history of the sport, Adrian’s primary focus is on the strategic and technical leadership where he excels. He is supported by a highly skilled senior leadership team to deliver on all aspects of the business, both at the campus and trackside.”

Stroll met with former Red Bull team principal Christian Horner again this week, but Newey is said by sources to be opposed his former colleague joining Aston Martin.

Newey left Red Bull in April 2024 because his relationship with Horner had soured after nearly 20 years together.

If Stroll and Wheatley finalise their agreement, the new arrangement would free up Newey to focus on the key areas where he can make a difference without the distractions of other responsibilities.

Aston Martin are last in the championship after two races this season, with a car that is behind on development compared to its rivals and an engine that is beset by major vibration problems and is short on internal combustion power and energy recovery and deployment.