Gabriel Bortoleto has revealed that the sudden departure of team principal Jonathan Wheatley from Audi did not come as a “surprise”.
Following the Chinese Grand Prix, rumours quickly spread that former Red Bull sporting director Wheatley would leave Audi and assume the position of team principal at Aston Martin.
While the Aston Martin aspect remains “speculation” as per the team, Wheatley’s Audi exit was confirmed on Friday, March 20.
“To be honest, no, because I think inside the team, we are very clear with this type of thing,” said Bortoleto when asked if the departure had been a surprise. “So it’s not something that got me by surprise. I’m not going to lie, it happened very quickly. He joined last year.
“But again, when you have personal things to put in place, that’s the priority.”
Pressed by Crash.net on any conversations he has shared with Wheatley following the announcement, Bortoleto added: “I haven’t talked much with him, just a little chat after the announcement.
As he made public as well, he couldn’t commit to the project because of personal issues, personal things, that obviously, I didn’t go into detail with him exactly what it is. It’s his problem, whatever it is, and I keep it like this.”
Despite his lack of surprise, Bortoleto had little advanced warning of what was to come, explaining, “I think everything happened extremely quickly after China. I don’t know exactly the date, but it was somewhere between China and here.”
Wheatley joined Audi in April 2025, after a period of gardening leave following nearly two decades with Red Bull.
Having worked previously with multiple world champions Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen, the Briton had a keen eye for what makes a successful F1 driver, and had been forthright in his praise of Bortoleto.
“Well, he spoke really good things about me, so I’m grateful for that, and I spent good time with him as well when we were on track, and I learned good things,” said the Brazilian.
“It’s still in the very early stages as well. It’s the first race we are going to do that he’s out, but I hope the best for him in his future.”
He added: “He was a good team principal within the team. People liked him, he did a very good job in structuring things here, so he was good while it lasted.”
