Aston Martin are interested in hiring Audi boss Jonathan Wheatley as team principal so Adrian Newey can prioritise car development, Sky Sports News understands.
Newey, who joined Aston Martin from Red Bull last March but only became team principal at the start of this year, is understood to welcome Wheatley’s possible arrival.
The legendary F1 designer would then be freed up to focus on the Aston Martin car after a nightmare start to the season for the team. Newey’s position as Aston Martin team principal was always seen as an interim measure.
A new team principal would not reduce Newey’s status within the team and as managing technical partner, the role for which the 67-year-old was originally hired 12 months ago, so he would have full authority over all technical matters and report only to team owner Lawrence Stroll.
Sky Sports News understands Aston Martin have identified other team principal candidates including Max Verstappen’s engineer Gianpiero Lambiase, who was approached but decided to remain with Red Bull, while former McLaren boss Andreas Seidl is not in the running for the role.
Should Wheatley become team principal, it would end any prospect of Christian Horner joining Aston Martin.
It is likely Audi would hold Wheatley to a lengthy period of gardening leave and it is unlikely any agreement will be concluded before next weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix as the recruitment process could take months.
It is still to be confirmed whether Newey travels to Suzuka, after he was not on-site for last weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix, or if he instead oversees the design and manufacture of upgrades at Aston Martin’s Silverstone factory.
“The team will not be engaging in media speculation about its senior leadership team. Adrian Newey continues to lead the team as Team Principal and Managing Technical Partner,” said Aston Martin in a statement to Sky Sports News.
Audi said in a statement: “We are aware of the recent media reports. There is no official update from our side at this point in time and we do not comment on speculation.”
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Despite clear problems with the car, Fernando Alonso is confident Aston Martin will resolve their difficulties and improve
What’s gone wrong at Aston Martin?
There were huge hopes at Aston Martin coming into this year, with the presence of Newey and with Honda as their new engine supplier.
However, it became clear during pre-season testing when Aston Martin were late to the Barcelona shakedown in January, then completed the least number of laps across the two Bahrain tests, that the team would be on the back foot.
Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll failed to complete a full race simulation and lacked outright speed compared to most of the field, aside from newcomers Cadillac.
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A red flag was issued during day two of the Bahrain Test after Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin stopped on the track
Prior to the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, Newey addressed the media and revealed vibrations caused by the Honda power unit could cause permanent nerve damage to the drivers.
Along with concern for the drivers, Honda executive Koji Watanabe confirmed that Honda are also unable to run the power unit at full capacity due to the vibration issue.
Newey also admitted he was unaware of the inexperience at Honda compared to their championship-winning crew that helped Red Bull’s Max Verstappen win the 2021 Drivers’ Championship.
“We only really became aware of it kind of November of last year when we – Lawrence [Stroll], Andy Cowell and myself – went to Tokyo to discuss as rumours started to suggest that their original target power they wouldn’t achieve for race one,” said Newey.
“Out of that came the fact that many of the original workforce had not returned when they restarted.”
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Despite clear problems with the car, Fernando Alonso is confident Aston Martin will resolve their difficulties and improve
Stroll did not take part in Qualifying while Alonso was knocked out in Q1, then both drivers were unable to finish the Australian Grand Prix.
It was a similar story one week later in China, where Stroll and Alonso were eliminated in the first part of Sprint Qualifying and Qualifying.
They completed ewer laps than in Australia as Stroll stopped at the first corner after nine laps and Alonso stopped due to the severity of the car’s vibrations.
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Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso react to Adrian Newey’s fears that Aston Martin’s vibration issues could cause ‘permanent nerve damage’
“Way too many vibrations compared to any other session of the weekend. I felt it was the limit,” he told Sky Sports F1.
“If we were fighting for something, you would hold your eyes and hands, but I started to lose feeling in my hands. It’s not a nice feeling.”
Aston Martin’s engine supplier Honda have their home event, the Japanese Grand Prix, next weekend, when there will be even more attention on the team’s performance.
Formula 1 next heads to the iconic Suzuka Circuit for the Japanese Grand Prix on March 27-29 live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime
