Red Bull sporting director Jonathan Wheatley is reportedly considering his future with the team after McLaren boss Zak Brown predicted that Adrian Newey’s resignation would trigger a wave of exits at the reigning constructors’ champions.
Newey became unsettled by the working environment at Red Bull and will leave the team, after almost two decades, in the first quarter of next year. And the esteemed chief technical officer isn’t the only high-profile figure looking towards a new challenge.
According to The Times, Wheatley has ‘long-term ambitions’ to become a team principal and the 56-year-old has already been sounding out options elsewhere on the grid.
While Newey is credited with overseeing the design of Red Bull’s dominant F1 cars over the past three seasons, as well as in years gone by; Wheatley has taken the plaudits for making them a pitstop powerhouse.
Red Bull have set the standard for pitstop times in recent years, winning the DHL Fastest Pit Stop Award in 2023 for the sixth time in a row. Wheatley is reportedly in contract negotiations with Red Bull but would likely need to look at other options to explore his team principal ambitions.
Technical director Pierre Wache, head of aerodynamics Enrico Balbo and head of performance engineering Ben Waterhouse have all signed long-term deals over the past few months, easing the pressure on Red Bull boss Christian Horner.
But McLaren Racing CEO Brown twisted the knife during the Miami Grand Prix weekend by suggesting that he was receiving job enquiries from members of the Red Bull team amid rumours of a power struggle at the top.
He said: “I think the stuff that’s going on there, it’s a bit destabilising; probably [Newey is] the first domino to fall. My guess is it’s not the last based on the resumes that are flying around. We’ve seen an increase in CVs coming our way from the team.”
A Red Bull spokesperson then responded: “In the past few months all our technical leadership team have signed long-term contracts committing to Oracle Red Bull Racing, so we’re not sure what CVs Zak is referring to, but we don’t foresee any significant loss and certainly not the domino effect Zak is hoping for.”
As has been the case for most of this season, reigning world champion Max Verstappen has not let off-track drama affect his on-track performances, as he won the Miami Grand Prix Sprint on Saturday before qualifying on pole for Sunday’s main event.
