Jonathan Wheatley reveals ‘long conversation’ with Binotto over Audi PU

Jonathan Wheatley revealed ahead of his Audi F1 exit that he had a “long conversation” with Mattia Binotto over the team’s F1 2026 engine.

It comes ahead of his expected switch to Aston Martin in a move first revealed by PlanetF1.com last week.

Jonathan Wheatley had ‘long conversation’ with Mattia Binotto over Audi PU

Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for news you can trust

Audi announced last Friday that Wheatley, the former Red Bull sporting director, had left the team with immediate effect.

Wheatley’s departure was made official within 48 hours of PlanetF1.com reporting that he had emerged as Adrian Newey’s prime target to become the new permanent Aston Martin team principal.

Binotto, the former Ferrari team boss who has headed the Audi F1 project since 2024, has assumed the role of team principal with the Swiss-based outfit’s new-look leadership structure set to be ‘fully defined at a later stage.’

Jonathan Wheatley likely to succeed Adrian Newey as Aston Martin team principal

F1 team principals: How long has each team boss been in charge?

Who is Jonathan Wheatley? Adrian Newey’s primary Aston Martin target

Despite his tenure lasting just 24 races, Wheatley made an impressive impact in his year in charge at Hinwil.

He led Sauber to its first podium finish since 2012 with Nico Hulkenberg’s third place at last year’s British Grand Prix, as well as overseeing the team’s Audi transformation for F1 2026.

Audi has had a mixed start to its debut season, reaching Q3 and scoring points with Gabriel Bortoleto in Australia.

However, the team is yet to make the start line with both cars after Hulkenberg and Bortoleto suffered a DNS in Melbourne and China respectively.

Speaking after his final race in charge of Audi in Shanghai, five days before his exit was confirmed, Wheatley revealed that the Audi F1 engine has emerged as an “area of focus” after the first two rounds of 2026.

Asked how close Audi currently is to the best power unit on the grid, he said: “We will have more information this weekend.

“What I can tell you is that I had a long conversation with Mattia about this, the analysis that we’ve done.

“We’re careful about what we say in public about it.

“One of the areas of focus for us in the next development cycle is the PU. We think there’s some work that we can do in that area.”

Wheatley went on to reveal that driveability is a weakness of the Audi engine, with Hulkenberg losing out in wheel-to-wheel situations in China as a result.

He explained: “I think it’s a track that exposed our weaknesses in many areas.

“One of the things that was interesting here is that in racing situations, how key driveability is.

“It remains a challenge of us to get on top of these driveability issues, because basically Nico had a couple of situations, at I think Turn 6, where it was hard to recover from them because you’ve got to get the engine back in its operating window.”

Asked if Audi’s poor driveability can be traced to the deployment of its engine, Wheatley pointed to Binotto’s deeper engine expertise.

He replied: “You’re getting very close to Mattia-type questions and not Jonathan-type questions!

“But look, basically, it’s the response of the PU in those situations when you have to react rather than act, I suppose.”

Wheatley and Newey previously worked together at Red Bull, achieving success with the likes of Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen before both men left the team in 2024.

Wheatley is understood to have appealed to Newey due to his skillset and personality type, with the former mechanic impressing in his role as sporting director at Red Bull.

He was widely credited for Red Bull’s standard-setting performance in pit stops, with Sauber also improving in this area following Wheatley’s arrival last year.

In a statement provided to PlanetF1.com on Friday, shortly after Wheatley’s Audi departure was announced, Aston Martin executive chairman Lawrence Stroll reiterated his confidence in Newey’s leadership.

Stroll said: “With the current speculation surrounding Adrian Newey’s role in our team, I want to take this opportunity to set the record straight.

“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.”

Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.

You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!

Read next: ‘Impossible’ – Bernie Ecclestone reacts to Jonathan Wheatley’s Audi F1 bombshell