Jonathan Wheatley has left Audi, with immediate effect. Wheatley joined the team, under the Sauber banner, in 2025 as team principal. In his first season with the team, he helped lead them to a significant improvement, including Nico Hulkenberg’s first podium finish. The team finished P9 in the World Constructors’ Championship with 70 points, up from P10 with 4 points in 2024. In 2026, Audi finds themselves P8 in the championship, despite mechanical reliability issues in both races. Mattia Binotto, who served as Ferrari team principal between 2019 and 2022, will take over the role of team principal at Audi, adding to his role as Head of Audi F1 Project. Although Wheatley’s departure is due to “personal reasons,” according to a team statement, it is suspected to be linked to an impending management change at Aston Martin.
Adrian Newey is expected to step down from his role as team principal at Aston Martin. He inherited the role from Andy Cowell, who was moved to the strategy department last year, less than a year after inheriting the role from Mike Crack. Newey was initially recruited to the role of Managing Technical Partner for the team, in a high-profile move from Red Bull. He will retain that role with the team, focusing on more technical aspects of the car. Aston Martin has had an extremely tough start to 2026, struggling with serious car performance and reliability issues that have plagued the car. Reports of the management shakeup prompted a statement from Aston Martin owner Lawrence Stroll, who attempted to “set the record straight” on the speculation. In his statement, he confirmed that Newey will remain with the team, but refused to comment on “senior executives of other teams who wish to join Aston Martin.” It is expected that Wheatley will join Aston Martin, although the timeline is unclear due to his current contract with Audi.
The FIA has appointed Paul Burns to the role of F1 deputy race director. The role has been vacant since Claire Dubbelman’s surprise departure at the end of 2025. Burns served as the assistant race director in Formula 2 last year. Before that, he worked on Formula One’s timekeeping team before moving to the FIA’s F1 race operations team in 2023. In his new role, Burns will work alongside F1 race director Rui Marques.
Mercedes has appointed Bradley Lord as its deputy team principal. Having got his start in Formula One with Benetton in 2001, Lord joined Mercedes in 2013 as its communications manager, moving to higher ranks within the team throughout the years. In recent years, his responsibilities have increased, so the team felt a title promotion was warranted. Importantly, there will be no change to Toto Wolff’s responsibility, although Lord will provide support to Wolff.
Racing action will resume this week as the teams prepare for the Japanese Grand Prix at the legendary Suzuka Circuit. This will lead into an unexpected April break. The race will be held on March 29.
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