“Big players are jumping ship, I wonder why” - F1 world reacts to Red Bull chief leaving to become Audi Team Principal

Red Bull Racing's sporting director Jonathan Wheatley is set to leave the team at the end of the 2024 Formula 1 season. This news has caused a stir in the F1 world, with several fans reacting to the news on social media.

News about personnel moving teams in Formula 1 is not a common occurrence. However, in the past few years, almost every top team has witnessed some key employees jumping ship for better roles. The biggest news this year has been the split between Red Bull Racing and its chief technical officer Adrian Newey. After spending nearly two decades designing for the Austrian outfit, Newey has decided to part ways at the end of the ongoing season.

Now, months after Newey's announcement, RBR's sporting director Jonathan Wheatley has also opened up about his departure from the team to join Audi F1 as its team principal. The exit of Red Bull's second top personnel in a year has fans questioning the team's management.

BBC's F1 journalist Andrew Benson shared this news via an X post, captioned:

"Jonathan Wheatley, Red Bull's long-time sporting director, is to leave the team and join Audi's F1 project as their new team principal. More to follow"

Several Formula 1 fans have reacted to the aforementioned post.

"So the big players are jumping ship. Now I wonder why🤔"A fan questioned.

"Christian splitting the team in half and putting his ego first is leading to this. Newey, Wheatley, Max and Helmut all losing faith in Christian’s leadership" commented another one, showing displeasure with Christian Horner's leadership.

"I hope Horny will be happy when he finally gets to be owner of the team. He’s single handedly destroying the team. Ever since the death of Dietrich Mateschitz, Horner has been power hungry together with the Thai’s and the decline of the team started…" an angry F1 fan said.

"I wonder how many other senior Red Bull staff are looking to get out and join other teams? Will the bosses regret backing Horner and giving him so much power?" replied another one.

"Max to Mercedes…slowly becoming a reality" a fan commented on Max Verstappen's possible future after RBR's decline.

"soon Red Bull is going to consist entirely of Christian Horner and Sergio Pérez" added another fan.

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A brief look at Jonathan Wheatley's contribution to Red Bull Racing as a sporting director

Jonathan Wheatley began his career in Formula 1 as a mechanic at Benetton in 1991. After gathering considerable years of experience with the UK-based outfit, he moved to Red Bull Racing in 2006 as a team manager.

Since then, Wheatley has moved up the ladder within the team to reach the position of Sporting Director at RBR. During his time in the Austrian outfit, the British management personnel has been an integral part of the team's six Constructor's championships (four with Sebastian Vettel and two with Max Verstappen) and seven Drivers' championships (four for Vettel and three for Verstappen).

“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,” Christian Horner said, highlighting Wheatley achievements (via Formula1.com).

Wheatley is set to join Audi as the team principal, under the leadership of Mattia Binotto, who has been offered the post of COO and CTO.