Red Bull is promoting one in every of its Formula 1 team members to interchange outgoing sporting director Jonathan Wheatley.
Wheatley will leave Red Bull at the top of the present campaign after an 18-year spell with the F1 world champions. The 57-year-old will develop into team principal of Audi F1 following a change in management structure.
The German automotive giant took over the Swiss team Sauber with the intention of manufacturing its own automotive and engine for the 2026 season, but did not make significant progress and did not sign lead driver Carlos Sainz to Williams.
Autosport has learned that Audi’s recent COO Mattia Binotto, a former Ferrari team principal, had nothing to do with Wheatley’s appointment.
Sources say Red Bull will look to interchange Wheatley with one other member of the organisation, giving the team a likelihood to refresh its management structure.
While Christian Horner will retain control of the team, the next departures of Wheatley and Adrian Newey mean Red Bull might be forced to reorganise its structure and pit wall.
This could mean the return of the team manager role, relatively than the sporting director title that Wheatley held.
This could be a big profit as Red Bull seeks to chop costs to fulfill Formula 1's cost cap.
Jonathan Wheatley, Red Bull Racing Team Manager
Photo: Red Bull Content Pool
While the departures of Wheatley and Newey will result in increasing speculation that Red Bull is descending into chaos, others say the team is undergoing an evolution with experienced staff leaving.
Designer Pierre Wache was offered recent terms just days before Newey's departure was confirmed, and a brand new candidate is known to have been appointed to interchange Wheatley.
It was common knowledge throughout the playing community that Wheatley dreamed of becoming team manager.
His job began to be combined with Horner's earlier this yr while the latter was under internal investigation.
It caused unease throughout the team, but not before Wheatley signed a letter of support pledging his allegiance to Horner, who had signed him from Benetton in 2006.
Red Bull could now share the role occupied by Wheatley, perhaps promoting Gianpiero Lambiase, who’s already head of race engineering and Max Verstappen's race engineer.
Another senior figure might be chargeable for acting as team manager during negotiations with the FIA.
Sources, nevertheless, claim that the corporate is unlikely to search for external candidates and treats the departures of highly paid employees simply as an evolution.
