Red Bull Chief Opens Up On Supporting Key Team Member's Exit To Rival F1 Team

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has opened up on motivating the team's former sporting director Jonathan Wheatley to take on the role of team principal at Sauber.

Wheatley announced his departure from Red Bull last year and, after completing his gardening leave, is set to join the Hinwil team in April, which will be rebranded as Audi in 2026 following a full takeover.

Among the numerous staff departures from Red Bull in 2024, the announcements of Adrian Newey and Jonathan Wheatley stood out. Newey, the team's chief technical officer and the mastermind behind Red Bull's dominant ground-effect cars, will join Aston Martin in March as managing technical partner and shareholder.

Horner revealed that he encouraged Wheatley to accept the team principal role at Sauber, as Wheatley had long been ambitious about leading a team. Horner did not want him to regret turning down the offer in the future, and he saw Wheatley’s departure as an opportunity for key talents below him to rise through the ranks. Speaking to RacingNews365, the 51-year-old Red Bull chief said:

“I’m sure he’ll be an asset to Sauber. The definition of the team principal at every team is very different.

“It depends on what that role and function is. But it’s predominantly trackside. A lot will depend on the dynamic between himself and Mattia [Binotto].

“It’s something he has been ambitious for some time so when he got the opportunity, I encouraged him to take it.

“It gives opportunity to others here [at Red Bull] and is a good opportunity for him in his career. I encouraged him and fully supported him, saying ‘come on, go for it. You'll regret it if you don’t'.”

Horner explained the importance of flowing talent in a team, suggesting that Wheatley's roles have now been split among multiple team members to enhance their skill sets. He added:

“With Jonathan, already over the last few months, the roles have been redistributed and are being operated by different team members which is exciting for them because it gives them opportunity.

“In any organisation, if it remains stagnant, the water can go off. You have to have evolution within any organisation.

“If I look in our engineering office today and compare it to 2013, which is the last time we had four [consecutive] world championships, there are maybe three people in there who were there back in 2013.”

Speaking about Newey's exit, Horner stressed that he will be missed in the team. He said:

“Adrian, obviously that came very early in the season and the team has adapted.

“Of course, he’s missed [within the team], he had played a tremendous role in the team during his time here.

“And whilst he doesn't officially leave the business until March and is still working behind the scenes on RB17 [hypercar], in F1, he checked out in Miami.”