Aston Martin are interested in hiring Audi boss Jonathan Wheatley as team principal so Adrian Newey can prioritise car development, Sky Sports News understands.Newey, who joined Aston Martin from Red Bull last March but only became team principal at the start of this year, is understood to welcome Wheatley’s possible arrival.
The legendary F1 designer would then be freed up to focus on the Aston Martin car after a nightmare start to the season for the team. Newey’s position as Aston Martin team principal was always seen as an interim measure.
A new team principal would not reduce Newey’s status within the team and as managing technical partner, the role for which the 67-year-old was originally hired 12 months ago, so he would have full authority over all technical matters and report only to team owner Lawrence Stroll.Sky Sports News understands Aston Martin have identified other team principal candidates including Max Verstappen’s engineer Gianpiero Lambiase, who was approached but decided to remain with Red Bull, while former McLaren boss Andreas Seidl is not in the running for the role.
Should Wheatley become team principal, it would end any prospect of Christian Horner joining Aston Martin.
It is likely Audi would hold Wheatley to a lengthy period of gardening leave and it is unlikely any agreement will be concluded before next weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix as the recruitment process could take months.
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Jonathan Wheatley is the current Audi team principal
It is still to be confirmed whether Newey travels to Suzuka, after he was not on-site for last weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix, or if he instead oversees the design and manufacture of upgrades at Aston Martin’s Silverstone factory.”The team will not be engaging in media speculation about its senior leadership team. Adrian Newey continues to lead the team as Team Principal and Managing Technical Partner,” said Aston Martin in a statement to Sky Sports News.Audi said in a statement: “We are aware of the recent media reports. There is no official update from our side at this point in time and we do not comment on speculation.”
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