Horner's lieutenant becomes the next name to leave a dismantled Red Bull

After Adrian Newey, Jonathan Wheatley has also decided to leave the Red Bull Racing team. He will finish the current Formula 1 season, which will be followed by a period of gardening leave for 2025, which was announced on Thursday by Red Bull.

The Sporting Director of the Austrian team will take up the role of Team Principal at Audi, joining the German team to be a part of their F1 project, which will be on the grid from 2026. Red Bull's sporting director will leave after the 2024 season, after which he will enter a period of mandatory leave. During that period, he will not be allowed to work for a rival team, but after that, he will head Audi's Formula One team (now Stake F1).

"Everyone at Oracle Red Bull Racing and Red Bull Technology wish him all the best in his new role and would like to place our thanks to Jonathan. Red Bull Racing have tremendous strength and depth and this provides the opportunity to elevate others within the Team. We will announce a new Team structure in the coming weeks," reads Red Bull's statement.

Wheatley is the second key member of Red Bull's staff in a few months to say goodbye to the team of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez after this year after Adrian Newey announced his departure earlier. It was no secret that the 57-year-old Briton had the ambition to become team boss and he can make that ambition come true at Audi.