Red Bull did not hold Wheatley back, reveals Horner

With Jonathan Wheatley set to leave Red Bull to join the future Audi F1 outfit next year, the Milton Keynes-based outfit’s leader Christian Horner has opened up on the departure of the sporting director.

Red Bull confirmed during the summer break that their Sporting Director Jonathan Wheatley will leave the Austro-British outfit, as he heads to a new challenge, taking up the role of Team Principal with the Audi F1 Project.

Wheatley began his motorsport career at Benetton as a junior mechanic in the early 1990s. He rose through the ranks at the Enstone-based team to become the chief mechanic from 2001 until 2006 when he left to join Red Bull Racing. He will head the Sauber outfit which will become Audi’s works entry in 2026.

Asked how instrumental Wheatley has been in the success that Red Bull have achieved in recent years, Horner insists that the British engineer played a key role, but his departure allowed the team to promote younger talent from within.

“Jonathan’s done a great job as initially team manager and then sporting director for us. 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.”

Pushed on to comment on Red Bull’s current form, Horner stated that the atmosphere is not bad despite the struggles the Milton Keynes-based squad has been going through in recent weeks.

“I think it’s pretty positive. I mean definitely coming out of Monza was a tough weekend for us. But I think out of every negative comes a positive.

“And I think the negativity of that weekend exposed some key areas of the car that we’ve been grappling with for some time. And I think it’s given a clear direction.

“And so, you know, the whole team, from the drivers putting in large amounts of time on the simulator, all the way through every single department are really determined and pushing as hard as possible. Some long hours going in in Milton Keynes at the moment from all the men and women back there. And hopefully, we can turn things around.”