Christian Horner draws up Red Bull plan of action as Jonathan Wheatley joins Audi

Christian Horner has hinted that Red Bull are set to start a big recruitment drive after sporting director Jonathan Wheatley became the latest key figure to leave.

Red Bull announced this week that Wheatley will leave the team at the end of the F1 2024 to take up the role of Audi team principal, with the German manufacturer set to take over the existing Sauber team in 2026.

Christian Horner teases new Red Bull hires after Jonathan Wheatley exit

Wheatley, who will leave Red Bull after 18 years, has become the second major figure to leave the team in recent months after legendary designer Adrian Newey announced his departure in early May.

Newey, who masterminded the team’s success with Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen, will leave the team in March next year, with Aston Martin said to be leading McLaren and Ferrari in the race to secure the 65-year-old’s signature.

Wheatley was first rumoured to be evaluating a move into team management in May this year, with speculation of an imminent move to Audi surfacing at last weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix at Spa.

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Following a strong start to the F1 2024 season, Red Bull have been restricted to just three wins in the nine races since Newey announced his departure days ahead of the Miami Grand Prix, with the team currently nursing a 42-point lead over McLaren in the Constructors’ standings.

Asked about Wheatley’s impending exit at Spa, Horner suggested that Red Bull are likely to use the funds freed up by the loss of Wheatley’s salary to attract new engineers to join the Milton Keynes-based outfit.

He told Swiss-German publication Blick: “I know that Jonathan wants to leave. Why not? He’s an expensive man whose salary I can hire some engineers for.”

Horner’s latest comments come after he heavily indicated that Red Bull will take the opportunity to promote from within following Wheatley’s departure for Audi, with the team having “tremendous strength and depth.”

In the Red Bull statement confirming Wheatley’s exit, Horner said: “It has been a long and successful relationship with Jonathan, over 18 years.

“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.

“Jonathan will remain in his position until the end of the 2024 season, as the team seek to defend both our World Drivers’ and World Constructors’ titles successfully. A period of gardening leave will follow in 2025.

“Everyone at Oracle Red Bull Racing and Red Bull Technology wish him all the best in his new role and would like to place our thanks to Jonathan.

“Red Bull Racing have tremendous strength and depth and this provides opportunity to elevate others within the team.

“We will announce a new team structure in the coming weeks.”

Red Bull seemed set to drop Sergio Perez after Spa, then the surprise call was made to keep him.

What changed?

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In an exclusive interview with PlanetF1.com at Spa (bottom), before the news of Wheatley’s exit was confirmed, technical director Pierre Waché admitted it is a “shame” that Newey is leaving the team, but backed Red Bull to respond to the challenge.

He said: “It’s a challenge in the company and it’s a shame that he’s leaving.

“But, at one point, we move forward alongside… as an engineering team, what you see from outside is one aspect but, on our side, we already know [when] people leave the team, we have already organised ourselves with our team.

“We would prefer him with us, but that is not how it is. We don’t think in this way, we try to see what you can do for yourself and how you can improve.

“If we see some weaknesses, we try to improve and this is how we work – we concentrate on what we can do better.”

Asked if a new chapter is starting at Red Bull, Waché added: “For sure, but it’s not [new].

“Before, we had Peter Prodromou, who left after 2014. Mark Ellis [left after 2013].

“It’s the nature of the team, and the leaders who left – they were a leader in their area. But it’s a natural aspect of each organisation.

“For sure, [Adrian] was a big figure of the system. But at one point, we give a chance to the younger, bright people to embrace this challenge, like I have now.

“Some people like Enrico [Balbo, head of aero], Ben Waterhouse [head of performance engineering], Craig [Skinner, chief designer], Paul [Monaghan, chief engineer], it is good for the people and for the team.”

On the importance of the team being able to promote from within to replace senior figures, Waché said: “It’s a massive benefit because you see the hard work is paying off.

“The team is a working organisation – not by individual, but a group and how we work together. If you have each individual working in isolation, nothing works.

“If you want to put a rocket on the moon, one guy cannot do it – you need people doing stuff and it’s the same for the car.”

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