Aston Martin statement reinforces Adrian Newey role amid Jonathan Wheatley speculation

Aston Martin has issued a statement, shortly after Jonathan Wheatley’s confirmed departure from the Audi F1 team.

Lawrence Stroll’s team is believed to be Wheatley’s likely destination, but the Silverstone-based squad has reiterated Adrian Newey’s continuation in the senior leadership role.

Aston Martin statement

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While Jonathan Wheatley has been confirmed as leaving his Audi team boss role with immediate effect, Aston Martin chairman Lawrence Stroll has issued a statement that has reiterated his faith in the leadership strength of Adrian Newey.

Notably, the statement does not confirm the arrival of Wheatley in the role currently occupied by Newey, but also does not shut down the possibility of his hiring.

“With the current speculation surrounding Adrian Newey’s role in our team, I want to take this opportunity to set the record straight,” Stroll said, with his team having been embroiled in rumours for days.

“As Executive Chairman and Controlling Shareholder, I would like to reaffirm that Adrian Newey is my partner and an important shareholder. He is AMR’s Managing Technical Partner, and he and I have a true partnership built on a shared vision of success for the company.

“We do things differently here, and while we don’t currently adopt the traditional Team Principal role that you see elsewhere – it is by design.

“As the most successful engineer ​in the history of the sport, Adrian’s primary focus is on the strategic and technical leadership, where he excels. He is supported by a highly skilled Senior Leadership Team to deliver on all aspects of the business, both at the Campus and trackside.

“We are regularly approached by senior executives of other teams who wish to join Aston Martin Aramco, but in keeping with our policy, we do not comment on rumour and speculation.”

PlanetF1.com understands that Wheatley has been identified by Adrian Newey as a primary target to step into the role currently occupied by the legendary car designer, with Newey leading his team’s evaluation of potential candidates to step into the team principal role on a long-term basis.

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.

With Wheatley seemingly not having a formal agreement with Aston Martin yet, his departure from Audi could therefore now have significantly weakened his negotiating position with Stroll and Newey, regardless of their desire to hire him.

Certainly, what is likely is that Wheatley will now have to serve a period of extended gardening leave before his arrival at another team on the grid, while Newey remains in the Aston Martin team principal role as his search for a long-term successor continues.

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