A FOUR-RING CIRCUS
There’s another year and a half to go before Audi officially makes its debut in F1, but the German manufacturer is already one of the series’ biggest newsmakers. In the middle of summer its F1 project underwent major managerial changes, with CEO Andreas Seidl and chairman Oliver Hoffmann departing. Former Ferrari F1 boss Mattia Binotto has taken the reins of preparing Audi’s F1 debut, while Red Bull team manager Jonathan Wheatley will join him shortly.
While the poor results of the Audi-owned Sauber team this year have been a significant factor in the board’s decision to wield the axe, it’s understood internal conflict between Seidl and Hoffmann acted as an accelerant. Insiders suggest the two erstwhile project leaders had substantial disagreements over the next steps required. Seidl had been in place as CEO since the beginning of 2023, while Hoffmann was added to the mix earlier this year when recently installed Audi AG CEO Gernot Döllner removed him as chief technical officer of the car company.
A related factor, according to insiders, has been the slow pace of recruitment – Seidl and Hoffmann couldn’t boast big-name signings. The biggest arrival connected to Seidl was James Key, with whom he’d worked at Mclaren – and who ended up at Hinwil after being moved aside by the Woking team. When Carlos Sainz began to back away from signing, leaving a somewhat denuded menu of alternatives to partner Nico Hülkenberg for 2025, friction increased.
Binotto hasn’t been involved in any F1 projects since his departure from the Scuderia a year and a half ago. Now, in the revised management structure of the Audi project, he has become its chief operating officer and chief technical officer, reporting directly to Döllner. This, interestingly, is similar to what his position was at Ferrari, where he was notionally in charge of car development as well as the race organisation.
Wheatley, one of Red Bull ’s most important figures in a stint spanning nearly two decades, will start work at Audi “by July 2025 at the latest”, according to the company’s press release.
It’s been known that Wheatley has been seeking a promotion for some time now. At the start of the year, when Red Bull Racing found itself at the centre of a scandal related to the allegations against team principal Christian Horner, it was sporting director Wheatley who was being earmarked as a logical replacement if Horner’s position proved untenable.
Wheatley will remain at Red Bull until the end of the current year, before embarking on “a period of gardening leave”. It’s understood that Audi remains in talks with Red Bull over shortening that period in order to allow Wheatley to join the project at the start of next year.
IT’S BEEN KNOWN THAT WHEATLEY HAS BEEN SEEKING A PROMOTION FOR SOME TIME NOW