Jonathan Wheatley revealed how an article published after the 2024 Miami Grand Prix created a \u201cdifficult situation at work\u201d for him at Red Bull.<\/p>\n
But said report, which had teased Wheatley\u2019s Red Bull<\/a> exit just days after Adrian Newey had announced his departure, proved a spark for negotiations, as Sauber\/Audi F1 became Wheatley\u2019s new home.<\/p>\n Jonathan Wheatley explains Red Bull to Sauber\/Audi F1 switch<\/p>\n Wheatley was a key figure at Red Bull from 2006-2024, starting out as team manager before becoming sporting director.<\/p>\n But in August 2024 it was confirmed that Wheatley would become the new team principal of Sauber, which will morph into the Audi F1 works team from F1 2026.<\/p>\n As Wheatley recalled the process of leaving Red Bull for Sauber in conversation with RN365, he explained how a report questioning his future over the 2024 Miami race weekend had created a \u201cdifficult\u201d working situation for him at Red Bull and ultimately opened the exit door.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll be honest with you, there was an article that came out in Miami last year,\u201d he said. \u201cI wasn\u2019t happy.<\/p>\n \u201cI had a very, very low media profile at the time, on purpose and then suddenly my name was in all the papers, which created a difficult situation at work.<\/p>\n \u201cBut what it did do, there were then a lot of approaches and you start thinking about it [leaving] then, because people are obviously very interested in where you could be.<\/p>\n \u201cI guess also my mindset there was, I\u2019d signed a lock-in contract and I would honour that from start to finish.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not the sort of person who signs a contract and then tries to wheedle my way out of it because there\u2019s a slightly different offer.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I commit to a team, I commit to it.<\/p>\n \u201cSixteen years at Benetton\/Renault, 19 years at Red Bull and I have no intention of leaving here [Sauber\/Audi] either, so that opened up a lot of conversations with many teams.\u201d<\/p>\n More on the F1 team principals from PlanetF1.com<\/p>\n \ud83d\udc49 F1 team principals: How long has each team boss been in charge?<\/a><\/p>\n \ud83d\udc49 Who is Laurent Mekies? Christian Horner\u2019s Red Bull replacement<\/a><\/p>\n Wheatley has made a swift impact since beginning work at Sauber in April 2025, the team going from backmarkers to consistent points scorers, Nico Hulkenberg on a run of four consecutive top 10 results, which included his first podium \u2013 after 239 starts \u2013 at the British Grand Prix.<\/p>\n Reacting to Hulkenberg\u2019s long-awaited achievement \u2013 and Sauber\u2019s first podium since 2012 \u2013 Wheatley told Sky F1: \u201cI think it\u2019s the longest overdue podium in the history of Formula 1.<\/p>\n \u201cLook at him today, he just delivered an absolute masterclass. An extraordinary performance.\u201d<\/p>\n Wheatley also had praise for the ever-improving Sauber crew.<\/p>\n \u201cThe team made all the right calls,\u201d he continued. \u201cIt feels like we\u2019re going in the right direction now.<\/p>\n \u201cA little bit of nerves in the pit stops, I think. But other than that, what a performance. I\u2019m so pleased.\u201d<\/p>\n Sauber sit P6 in the current F1 2025 Constructors\u2019 Championship standings<\/a>, 18 points behind Williams a position up the road.<\/p>\n