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The flurry of news crammed into the week before Formula 1 went into summer shutdown mode included Red Bull’s announcement that its long-serving sporting director Jonathan Wheatley was leaving for Audi.
Coming so soon after the recruitment of ex-Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto, securing Wheatley was another clear positive for Audi’s developing F1 programme at a time when the awful form of the Sauber team that it's taking over plus Carlos Sainz spurning it for Williams for his next deal had rung alarm bells.
But what of the impact of Wheatley’s exit on Red Bull, especially in the context of other high-profile departures from the team in recent years?
With F1 about to resume with Max Verstappen’s home race - the Dutch Grand Prix - this weekend, the potential for any further friction around a Red Bull team already on the back foot on-track will be a big talking point in the paddock.
Edd Straw and Scott Mitchell-Malm delved into the Red Bull implications of Wheatley’s exit on a recent episode of The Race F1 Podcast.
ANOTHER TOTEM GONE
Team principal Christian Horner acknowledged Wheatley’s contribution to all of Red Bull’s championship successes as team manager and then sporting director by stating it “will forever be a marker in our history”.
And Wheatley isn’t the first figure who’s been a big part of Red Bull’s history to head for the exit door recently.
Scott Mitchell-Malm: “The totems of the team are going. Adrian Newey’s on his way out. Rob Marshall’s already left. Now Wheatley. Dan Fallows obviously moved to Aston Martin.
“These are very senior figures that Red Bull either fought very hard to hold onto in the past or owes a lot of its success to and who have been very prominent figures within that organisation. Not only do they weaken Red Bull by leaving, they strengthen rivals by going elsewhere.
“Because Wheatley is such a senior figure, there will be people who work for him who will want to carry on doing that. So this won’t be the only person who goes from Red Bull to Audi, I’m certain of that.”
HOW WILL THE VERSTAPPENS REACT?
Mercedes has been most vocal in seeing Red Bull’s 2024 off-track problems as an opportunity to try to lure Verstappen, perhaps as early as next season to fill its vacancy in Lewis Hamilton’s car.
Most of the Verstappen camp’s commentary on Red Bull’s issues has come from Max’s father Jos. Will news of Wheatley’s exit trigger any fresh rumblings around the relationship between the Verstappens and Red Bull at Zandvoort?
Edd Straw: “It’s all eyes on the Verstappen camp to see what they make of this.
“I can’t imagine it’s a particularly impressive move from their perspective.
“If there is a gradual erosion going on at Red Bull Racing then certainly for 2026 - and because Mercedes is still circling, even 2025 - it just makes you wonder. It just makes it more and more likely that a Verstappen move is going to happen eventually.
“The general trend for Red Bull is a little bit concerning. It feels like it’s under attack in all areas and just being whittled away from within.”
BUT THERE WILL BE POSITIVES TOO
Red Bull said when it issued the Wheatley news that it will announce a new team structure “in the coming weeks”, so expect more details on that soon. And it has been spinning positives from his exit - not without reason.
Scott Mitchell-Malm: “There will be elements of it that are genuinely beneficial. When you’ve had someone in the company for so long who has held such a senior position, he will be a very high earner within that organisation but there’s nowhere else within it for him to go.
“Wheatley was being linked with the team principal job when Horner’s position seemed to be on the line at the very start of the year but Horner’s consolidated his power base now.
“Wheatley moving frees up a probably not insignificant part of your salary allowance - in terms of what Red Bull wants to pay people.
“You’re not going to replace Wheatley directly straight away but you might get someone who comes close to approximating that impact and they can learn on the job and might bring other things in that maybe Wheatley wasn’t so strong at.
“Then it’s a knock-on effect: if the promotions keep coming internally there are a bunch of people who can find themselves in different positions and that can be a sneakily good way of keeping a lot of people happy because you have progression in your own ranks.”
