Wheatley leaves Red Bull
Certainly the press release published yesterday afternoon by Red Bull for make Jonathan Wheatley’s farewell official It was quite unique. It is not usual for a team to indicate the destination of its employee. who chooses to leave the team, ‘burning’ the rivals’ announcement.
Audi, surprised by the timing of the announcement, took a few hours to confirm everything. Usually, in fact – as often happens with drivers – the two teams agree to publish press releases a few minutes apart.
Wheatley and Abu Dhabi
After Adrian Newey, it was Jonathan Wheatley’s turn to end a relationship with Red Bull that had been going on for a long time. 18 yearsWheatley’s role was certainly not secondary, first team manager and then sporting director, he was in fact the supervisor of the team’s (record-breaking) pit stops, but he played a key role in Verstappen’s first world title: It was him who spoke via radio with Michael Masi in the tense final of Abu Dhabi 2021. His request – accepted – to split the drivers between Hamilton and Max and the pressure to restart the GP for just one last and decisive lap, gave the world championship to the Dutchman. And it is no coincidence that Toto Wolff spoke of “bromance” between Masi and Wheatley, explaining how Verstappen “owes a lot” to the British sports director for his first world championship laurel.
Horner shrugs
During the weekend at Spa-Francorchamps, the well-known journalist Roger Benoit of Blickhaving learned of Wheatley’s possible departure, asked Christian Horner to comment on the rumours. The backstory is quite interesting, because the team principal seemed to downplay the effects of the Briton’s departure: “I know Jonathan wants to leave. And why not? After all, it’s expensive, with his salary I can hire several engineers.”. As usual, Horner displayed confidence, but not everyone in the team reacted as he did…
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