Jonathan Wheatley officially leaves Audi, before replacing Adrian Newey at Aston Martin

Jonathan Wheatley is leaving the Audi Formula 1 team with immediate effect, ahead of his impending move to Aston Martin.

Motorsport revealed on Thursday that Adrian Newey was set to step down from his team principal duties, which he assumed under three months ago, to focus on technical matters – and would be replaced by Audi team boss Wheatley.

The decision was made amid Aston Martin’s disastrous start to F1’s new technical era in 2026, with the Honda power unit’s vibrations preventing the Newey-designed AMR26 from completing grand prix races due to battery reliability issues and driver health concerns.

The team’s downfall comes as billionaire owner Lawrence Stroll has invested tremendously in making the Silverstone-based outfit a title contender, with a state-of-the-art campus populated with elite F1 engineers like Newey and former Mercedes lynchpin Andy Cowell.

A mechanic who rose through the ranks at Benetton, Renault and Red Bull, where he served as team manager then sporting director, Wheatley has been Sauber and then Audi’s team principal for a year.

His main task at Aston Martin will be to put the team back on track – which won’t be easy as it needs, more than anything, to get a powerful, reliable engine package.

Wheatley will be tasked with getting Aston Martin back on track

Photo by: Lintao Zhang / LAT Images via Getty Images

Meanwhile, Audi clarified in a statement shared with Motorsport.com that head of Audi F1 project Mattia Binotto “will continue leading the team while taking over additional responsibilities as team principal”.

The statement from Audi continued: “The team's future structure will be fully defined at a later stage, as the organisation continues to adapt to the evolving environment of Formula 1. With the unwavering commitment of Audi AG, Audi Revolut F1 Team will continue progressing towards challenging for championships by 2030.”

Audi currently lies ninth in the 2026 constructors’ championship, with technical issues ruling Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto out of one grand prix each before those races had even started.