Adrian Newey is set to step down from his team principal position at the Aston Martin Formula 1 team, where he’ll be replaced by current Audi team boss Jonathan Wheatley.
Autosport understands Newey will step down in order to focus exclusively on technical matters, as Aston Martin has experienced a more than underwhelming start to the 2026 F1 season. Power unit trouble with new partner Honda means the Newey-designed AMR26 currently can’t complete a whole race.
Wheatley has been working at Audi since last May alongside CEO Mattia Binotto but will therefore return to England after just 10 months. The timing of the move depends on his Audi contract.
Jonathan Wheatley, Audi F1 Team Principal
Photo by: Dom Gibbons / Formula 1 via Getty Images
Aston Martin’s Silverstone campus is located just 20 miles away from Red Bull’s F1 headquarters, where Wheatley spent 20 years of his career.
This opportunity is attractive as Wheatley is set to join at an extremely tricky time for Aston Martin – it can’t really get any worse. At Audi, enjoyed a certain degree of autonomy, reporting directly to the board, but coexisting with Binotto meant he did not have the same leeway as normally afforded by the team principal role.
Wheatley may have been endorsed – if not suggested to owner Lawrence Stroll – by Newey himself, as they spent those two decades together at Red Bull.
Newey’s promotion to the team principal role was announced just four months ago and was effective in 2026 only, so it was short-lived; the current crisis only made it harder.
Now, what will Audi’s strategy be: searching for a new team principal, or restructuring the squad internally and/or promoting from within?
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– The Autosport.com Team
