Source:REUTERS/Mark Peterson
[Saba Sports News] On March 20, Audi’s F1 team officially announced that Jonathan Wheatley has stepped down immediately from his role as team principal for “personal reasons,” and his duties have been taken over by project head Mattia Binotto. Records show Wheatley served at the Sauber/Audi team for only ten months (May 2025–March 2026). His departure comes at a critical time as Audi prepares for the 2026 season’s technical rule changes, making the move puzzling.
Before Wheatley’s resignation, several media outlets had reported that he had accepted the team principal role at Aston Martin, replacing Adrian Newey, who is set to return to a technical role. Although Aston Martin owner Lawrence Stroll issued a statement reaffirming his absolute confidence in Newey and attempting to cool speculation about recent management changes, it’s notable that the statement — while again confirming Newey will continue in his current role — did not directly address whether Wheatley would be taking over or rule out bringing in new senior management.
The writer believes that if Wheatley does move to another team, he would still likely face a gardening leave period and could not start immediately. That means even if both parties reach an agreement, Aston Martin’s management changes would not be completed quickly. Overall, Aston Martin is still in the phase of evaluating and screening candidates for a new team principal.