With Christian Horner now out at Red Bull, Racing Bulls’ boss Laurent Mekies will fill the significantly big shoes left at Milton Keynes, but in another universe, there was someone else who could have filled the breach.
A great deal of Red Bulls’ stability and strength came from a number of personnel who had been involved in the team from, or near to, the start of its journey in 2005.
One of those was Jonathan Wheatley, who was Team Manager and, latterly, Sporting Director.
A highly-respected and regarded member of the Red Bull family, Wheatley was one of the list of key staff who decided to leave Milton Keynes for pastures new.
In his case, it was Sauber, becoming its Team Principal, with the natural progression to the same role amid its Audi transition in 2026.
For Wheatley, it seems that his profile is on an upwards trajectory as Horner’s plummets, given the nature of Sauber’s revival since the commencement of the European leg of this year.
After getting its first points via Nico Hulkenberg in Spain, the German veteran has led a charge which saw him take more points in Montreal, followed by his first-ever Formula 1 podium at Silverstone – the team’s first in 13 years.
When asked about what it means for the Audi project, Wheatley told media including Motorsport Week: “I think we talked about how important momentum is in a team and so really for me what I take from today is for people to start believing in us.
“I can say the words, I can say we’re gaining momentum, I can say we’re putting performance on the tyre, I can say that Mattia [Binotto, COO] and all the hard work he’s been putting in before I came here is coming to light, but it’s true.
“But we’ve got a very long journey towards where we need to be as a team and it’s a great step when you stand on that journey.”
Wheatley proud to be heading Audi venture
Wheatley also spoke of his awareness that whilst there will be some bumps in the road with Audi’s first move into F1, the off-track performance of the team at Silverstone provides confidence going forward.
“You can think of the plan as a straight line and there’s some hairpins on the way and there’s some stoplights and traffic works,” he explained.
“It’s a great day for the team. Everyone’s working so hard here. It’s still a young team gelling together. It was a mature race performance.”
Coincidentally, Hulkenberg recently revealed that he was relatively close to joining Red Bull, with Helmut Marko responding to that by saying: “He has a long-term contract with Sauber/Audi. That’s something I wouldn’t give up either.”
And now it looks as if the same sentiments will also apply to Wheatley.
READ MORE – The 18 months that soured Christian Horner’s two-decade F1 legacy at Red Bull
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