Red Bull are likely to suffer a huge loss as their sporting director Jonathan Wheatley will leave the side to join Audi as a team principal after this season ends. Soon after Red Bull made this announcement, many blamed Horner for Wheatley’s exit.
However, an F1 expert has absolved Horner of this and has explained that it was Wheatley’s ambition to lead a team that motivated him to leave Red Bull. Speaking of the same, F1 expert Aidan Millward said on his YouTube channel,
“It had been known to the racing press that he [Wheatley] was looking for this promotion. So, there is no way that Red Bull would have been blindsided by the move“.
#F1: ecco come la #RedBull reagirà all’addio di #Wheatley, non si esclude un’altra promozione per #Lambiase https://t.co/fh9sISJiRb
— FormulaPassion.it (@FormulaPassion) August 3, 2024
Although Wheatley may have made such a switch for his own personal growth, there is a good reason why some have blamed Horner for some of the recent exits from Red Bull. Soon before Wheatley announced that he would leave Red Bull at the end of this season, legendary aerodynamicist Adrian Newey made the same decision.
Fans blamed Horner’s “inappropriate behavior” saga for Red Bull exits
Horner was in the news for all the wrong reasons at the start of the 2024 season after a female Red Bull employee levied allegations of “inappropriate behavior” towards her. Soon after the biggest publications broke this news, Jos Verstappen predicted that if Red Bull did not sack Horner, it would result in the disintegration of the team.
With Newey announcing at the start of May that he would leave Red Bull after the first quarter of 2025, rival team bosses such as McLaren CEO Zak Brown also claimed that the British aerodynamicist’s decision to leave is only the first “domino” that has fallen. Brown had predicted that more high-profile names will leave Red Bull as the season progressed.
And with Wheatley announcing his exit now, it seems that Verstappen and Brown’s concerns were legitimate. However, it is pertinent to note that one cannot say for certain whether Horner is the reason for both Newey and Wheatley deciding to leave Red Bull or not.
As Millward said, Wheatley was looking for growth in his career after spending 15 long years at Red Bull. Meanwhile, Newey claimed at the time of making his decision that he wanted a break from F1, having spent a few decades in the sport.
