Audi issue statement on Jonathan Wheatley rumours amid Aston Martin interest

Audi has issued a statement on the speculation surrounding Jonathan Wheatley’s future, with the team boss strongly linked with a switch to Aston Martin.

Wheatley is understood to have been identified as Adrian Newey’s primary target to step into the team principal role at Aston Martin.

Jonathan Wheatley future addressed by Audi amid Aston Martin links

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The future of Wheatley at Audi is uncertain, less than a year after the British engineer started work with the former Sauber squad.

Wheatley had jumped to Sauber from his long-term role as sporting director at Red Bull, stepping up his responsibilities to become team principal and work closely alongside chief operating officer Mattia Binotto at the burgeoning Audi project.

But, a year on from that switch, Wheatley’s name has emerged at the heart of a team principal silly season, with Aston Martin’s Adrian Newey understood to have targeted his former Red Bull colleague to succeed him in the lead role at Lawrence Stroll’s squad.

As first revealed by PlanetF1.com on Wednesday, Newey has been leading a months-long evaluation of the market to find a long-term successor for the team principal role, having stepped into the position himself to bridge the gap between former boss Andy Cowell and the next appointment.

With Newey being a senior figure at Aston Martin, as a minority shareholder and managing technical partner, the team principal role would report to him and Stroll.

Several names are understood to have been approached, including former Aston Martin Group CEO Martin Whitmarsh, current Red Bull head of racing and Max Verstappen’s race engineer GianPiero Lambiase, former McLaren team boss and Sauber CEO Andreas Seidl, and the Audi leaders, Binotto and Wheatley.

The latter is now believed to have become Newey’s primary target, but, at this early stage in his career as a team boss, with a squad immediately delivering on track, a departure to Aston Martin would come as a bombshell.

PlanetF1.com’s understanding of the situation is that a formal offer has not yet been extended to Wheatley by Aston Martin, but the British engineer could be amenable to a switch due to personal life circumstances that could make a return to the UK more tempting.

But paddock whispers have suggested to this publication that Wheatley has indicated a desire to leave his role with Audi in order to pursue the opportunity with Aston Martin.

It’s also emerged that the working relationship between Wheatley and Binotto has been fraught with friction, with one senior source commenting on the “strained dynamic” between the two top leaders at Audi.

Certainly, it’s been suggested that Audi CEO Gernot Dollner is said to be furious with Wheatley, whose interest in switching teams was very much under the radar.

PlanetF1.com understands that a further statement from Audi, confirming Wheatley’s departure, could be made within hours.

Wheatley’s negotiations with Aston Martin, given that it’s believed he has yet to be extended a formal offer, could therefore take on a different level of urgency, given Audi’s purported unhappiness with the situation.

However, given his existing contract with Audi, Wheatley would be unable to start work with Aston Martin immediately if he did accept the role under Newey, and would likely have to serve a gardening leave of somewhere between six months to a year.

When approached by PlanetF1.com for comment, an Audi spokesperson notably failed to deny the possibility of Wheatley’s departure: “We are aware of the recent media reports. There is no official update from our side at this point in time, and we do not comment on speculation.”

More on Jonathan Wheatley and Aston Martin

Aston Martin issue statement amid Adrian Newey team principal speculation

Jonathan Wheatley emerges as lead candidate in Adrian Newey’s Aston Martin team principal search

This stance closely echoes what Aston Martin had to say on the matter, with a spokesperson telling PlanetF1.com that, “The team will not be engaging in media speculation about its senior leadership team.

“Adrian Newey continues to lead the team as Team Principal and Managing Technical Partner.”

On Thursday, Italian media reported that Newey is set to step down as Aston Martin team boss, with Wheatley stepping into the role, but PlanetF1.com understands these reports are premature and overblown.

As it stands, it’s believed Newey is continuing his months-long evaluation and negotiation with candidates, with this process having started around last season’s Las Vegas Grand Prix, with the hunt for a successor not being expedited or influenced in any way by the current on-track struggles of the team.

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