It’s strange, very strange. Something strange is happening with the Red Bull Formula 1 team. Another of its heavyweights, Jonathan Wheatley, has just announced his farewell to the team. After almost two decades leading the Red Bull team, Wheatley to step down as sporting director for Audi.
In recent months, the number of absences in the Red Bull team has been incessant. And it may be the result of the internal war between the Verstappen clan and Christian Horner, but in the background there is a stench that is becoming more and more evident: Nobody wants to be at Red Bull when the new regulations come into force.
Jonathan Wheatley leaves Audi after nearly two decades at Red Bull
If we say that Carlos Sainz’s departure from Audi was the confirmation that something was looking wrong in the German project in Formula 1, what can we say about Red Bull. The energy drink team is being robbed by everyone, and now It is Audi itself that has taken Wheatley.
After signing Mattia Binotto as a replacement for Andreas Seidl, Audi now takes over the former Red Bull sporting director for form a kind of two-headed team at the headBut what is really important is what this farewell means for Red Bull, because it represents another step in the disbandment.
In recent months, Adrian Newey y Jonathan Wheatleytwo of the veterans who built Red Bull, have left the team. Not to retire, but to go somewhere else. Lee Stevenson also said goodbye, and like him a long list of up to seven engineers have gone looking for new destinations.
And all this, while echoing in the background a possible Max Verstappen walkoutThe Dutchman’s flirtations with Mercedes are becoming more intense as his Red Bull loses performance and the Mercedes gains. The proof of Red Bull’s fear is that they have renewed Helmut Marko to try to tie down Verstappen.
Red Bull’s statement announcing Wheatley’s departure speaks for itself. With a Very dry language, zero feelings and no room for declarations They have said goodbye to a key player who has been with the team for almost two decades and who has led them to glory. A painful goodbye, one more.
Today, we announce the departure of Sporting Director Jonathan Wheatley, as he heads to a new challenge in the role of Team Principal with the Audi F1 Project.
Everyone at the Team wishes Jonathan all the best. We will announce a new Team structure in the coming weeks.
— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) August 1, 2024
Con Red Bull building its own engine for the first time for 2026it feels like no one wants to be there when that date arrives.
Source: www.motorpasion.com
