Red Bull's Wheatley to join Audi as team principal

Red Bull sporting director Jonathan Wheatley will be leaving his post to become Audi's team principal, the reigning constructors' champions announced Thursday.

"It has been a long and successful relationship with Jonathan, over 18 years," Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said in a statement. "His contribution to six world constructors’ titles and seven world drivers’ championship, first as team manager and latterly sporting director will forever be a marker in our team history."

Wheatley will remain with the team through 2024 and then serve a garden leave in 2025. Audi confirmed the move shortly after and expects Wheatley to join the team by July 2025 at the latest.

Wheatley joined Red Bull in 2006 and is the second significant loss for the team this season, joining legendary engineer Adrian Newey, who announced in May he would depart.

"Red Bull Racing have tremendous strength and depth, and this provides opportunity to elevate others within the team," Horner added. "We will announce a new team structure in the coming weeks."

Wheatley was also a key figure behind Red Bull's reputation as the class of the field in pit stops. The team held the record of fastest pit stop in F1 history at 1.82 seconds at the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix until McLaren bested the feat with a 1.8-second stop last season.

Audi bought ownership of Sauber and will enter the grid in 2026. The German manufacturer made several key organizational moves in July, appointing former Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto as COO and CTO, while Andreas Seidl and Oliver Hoffmann departed the team.

"With the appointment of Jonathan and Mattia we have taken a decisive step towards our entry into Formula 1," Audi CEO Gernot Dollner said in a statement. "I am convinced that with the two of them, we have been able to combine an extremely high level of competence for Audi. Their experience and their ability will help us to get a foothold quickly in the tough competitive world of Formula 1."