Overview
- Audi announced Wheatley has left the team with immediate effect for personal reasons, with Mattia Binotto assuming team principal responsibilities in addition to leading the F1 project.
- Multiple outlets report Wheatley is expected to join Aston Martin to run race operations, but no contract has been announced and any start date could be constrained by gardening‑leave obligations.
- Aston Martin reiterated that Adrian Newey continues as team principal and managing technical partner, with Executive Chairman Lawrence Stroll stressing the team’s non‑traditional leadership model and declining to comment on hiring speculation.
- The prospective change follows a dire start for Aston Martin’s Honda‑powered AMR26, with severe vibrations linked to reliability failures and driver numbness, and both cars failing to finish the first two grands prix.
- Wheatley departs Audi roughly a year after joining from Red Bull, where he spent nearly two decades, and reports suggest a potential return to a UK base is a factor in his next move.