Newey stays — leadership buzz
Aston Martin confirmed Adrian Newey remains team principal amid media speculation, but reports say the team is eyeing Audi's Jonathan Wheatley for a leadership role to let Newey focus purely on the 2026 car ( ).
Jonathan Wheatley joined Audi’s F1 project in April 2025 after an 18‑year spell at Red Bull where he rose to Sporting Director. (audi-mediacenter.com: ) Wheatley has been credited with operational gains at the Sauber/Audi outfit since his arrival, including helping the team to a Silverstone podium and clearer race‑week management structures. (formula1.com: ) Aston Martin’s opening 2026 campaign was disrupted by “abnormal” Honda power‑unit vibrations that damaged battery systems in pre‑season testing and limited running into the race weekends. (the-race.com: ) Those vibration problems carried into the opening rounds, producing cockpit feedback severe enough that team engineers imposed lap limits on drivers and the energy‑store failures left the squad with one of the lowest pre‑season lap totals. (crash.net: ) Sky Sports reported Aston Martin had sounded out Wheatley as a candidate to take over race‑team operational duties, a development published on March 20, 2026 as the team explored options to accelerate a technical recovery. (skysports.com: ) Any approach would face timing and contractual hurdles given Wheatley’s recent move into the Audi project and the seat‑filling and commercial commitments that accompanied it. (f1i.com: )
