Jonathan Wheatley opens up on why he left Red Bull

Jonathan Wheatley revealed how an article published after the 2024 Miami Grand Prix created a “difficult situation at work” for him at Red Bull.

But said report, which had teased Wheatley’s Red Bull exit just days after Adrian Newey had announced his departure, proved a spark for negotiations, as Sauber/Audi F1 became Wheatley’s new home.

Jonathan Wheatley explains Red Bull to Sauber/Audi F1 switch

Wheatley was a key figure at Red Bull from 2006-2024, starting out as team manager before becoming sporting director.

But in August 2024 it was confirmed that Wheatley would become the new team principal of Sauber, which will morph into the Audi F1 works team from F1 2026.

As Wheatley recalled the process of leaving Red Bull for Sauber in conversation with RN365, he explained how a report questioning his future over the 2024 Miami race weekend had created a “difficult” working situation for him at Red Bull and ultimately opened the exit door.

“I’ll be honest with you, there was an article that came out in Miami last year,” he said. “I wasn’t happy.

“I had a very, very low media profile at the time, on purpose and then suddenly my name was in all the papers, which created a difficult situation at work.

“But what it did do, there were then a lot of approaches and you start thinking about it [leaving] then, because people are obviously very interested in where you could be.

“I guess also my mindset there was, I’d signed a lock-in contract and I would honour that from start to finish.

“I’m not the sort of person who signs a contract and then tries to wheedle my way out of it because there’s a slightly different offer.

“When I commit to a team, I commit to it.

“Sixteen years at Benetton/Renault, 19 years at Red Bull and I have no intention of leaving here [Sauber/Audi] either, so that opened up a lot of conversations with many teams.”

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Wheatley has made a swift impact since beginning work at Sauber in April 2025, the team going from backmarkers to consistent points scorers, Nico Hulkenberg on a run of four consecutive top 10 results, which included his first podium – after 239 starts – at the British Grand Prix.

Reacting to Hulkenberg’s long-awaited achievement – and Sauber’s first podium since 2012 – Wheatley told Sky F1: “I think it’s the longest overdue podium in the history of Formula 1.

“Look at him today, he just delivered an absolute masterclass. An extraordinary performance.”

Wheatley also had praise for the ever-improving Sauber crew.

“The team made all the right calls,” he continued. “It feels like we’re going in the right direction now.

“A little bit of nerves in the pit stops, I think. But other than that, what a performance. I’m so pleased.”

Sauber sit P6 in the current F1 2025 Constructors’ Championship standings, 18 points behind Williams a position up the road.

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