Audi rules out Horner as new team principal amid ongoing rumors

Thanks to Juan Pablo Montoya, it suddenly became a topic. The former Formula 1 driver considered Horner the perfect candidate to succeed Wheatley as team principal of Audi.

"They need someone like Christian,” Juan Pablo Montoya told TalkSPORT. “I think people underestimate what Christian has done, how long he did it for, and what he achieved. You might like him, you might hate him, but he could deliver."

Still, Audi does not see Horner as a candidate to replace Wheatley, this website has learned. In any case, it is hard to imagine that Horner himself would be interested in such a position at the ambitious team. After all, Horner wants to become a shareholder somewhere rather than be on the payroll.

Audi holds virtually all of the team’s shares itself, with a small minority stake held by the Qatar Investment Authority. The Germans have never made a secret of wanting to keep the team under their own control, rather than bringing in various parties with decision-making power on board.

For Audi, Mattia Binotto is for now the man taking over Wheatley’s duties.

The Italian does not want that job permanently. For the time being, the most likely scenario is that Wheatley’s responsibilities will be divided among several people internally.