Aston Martin is exploring a move to recruit Audi team principal Jonathan Wheatley, in a strategic shift that would allow Adrian Newey to dedicate more time to developing the team’s 2026 Formula 1 car.
Media reports suggest that Wheatley is a leading candidate for the role, with the potential reshuffle designed to maximise Newey’s impact on the technical side following a difficult start to the season.
Newey, who joined Aston Martin from Red Bull in March 2025 before stepping into the team principal position at the beginning of 2026, is believed to be supportive of the proposal. His appointment as team principal was always viewed internally as a temporary solution rather than a long-term leadership structure.
Under the proposed arrangement, Newey would step away from day-to-day operational leadership and instead concentrate fully on car development. Importantly, his influence within the organisation would remain unchanged. As managing technical partner—the position he was originally brought in to fulfil—the 67-year-old would retain full authority over all technical matters and report directly to team owner Lawrence Stroll.
Aston Martin has assessed several potential candidates for the team principal role. Among them was Gianpiero Lambiase, Max Verstappen’s race engineer, who was approached but ultimately chose to stay at Red Bull. Meanwhile, former McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl is not currently under consideration.
Should Wheatley make the move, it would also eliminate any possibility of Red Bull boss Christian Horner joining Aston Martin.
However, any deal for Wheatley is unlikely to progress quickly. Audi is expected to place him on an extended period of gardening leave if he agrees to leave, meaning a formal appointment would likely take months to finalise. As such, no agreement is anticipated before next weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix.
It also remains unclear whether Newey will travel to Suzuka, having missed last weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix. He may instead continue overseeing the development of upgrades from Aston Martin’s Silverstone factory.
In response to the speculation, Aston Martin issued a statement: “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.”
Audi also declined to comment, stating: “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.”
What has gone wrong at Aston Martin?
Expectations were high heading into the 2026 season, driven by Newey’s arrival and a new works engine partnership with Honda. However, early signs suggested the team would struggle to meet those ambitions.
Aston Martin was delayed in completing their Barcelona shakedown in January and recorded the fewest laps across both pre-season tests in Bahrain. Neither Fernando Alonso nor Lance Stroll managed to complete a full race simulation, and the car lacked outright pace compared to most of the grid, with only newcomers Cadillac appearing less competitive.
During testing, reliability issues were immediately apparent. A red flag was triggered on the second day in Bahrain after Alonso’s car stopped on track, highlighting early concerns about performance and durability.
Ahead of the opening race in Australia, Newey revealed that severe vibrations linked to the Honda power unit posed a significant risk to drivers, warning they could even result in permanent nerve damage.
The issue has not only affected driver comfort but also performance. Honda executive Koji Watanabe confirmed that the manufacturer has been unable to run the power unit at full capacity due to the vibration problem.
Newey also admitted he had not fully anticipated the extent of Honda’s current limitations, particularly compared to the experienced group that supported Red Bull during Max Verstappen’s 2021 championship-winning campaign.
“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.”
The team’s struggles have translated directly into poor race performances. At the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, Stroll did not participate in qualifying, while Alonso was eliminated in Q1. Neither driver finished the race.
Difficulties continued in China the following weekend. Both drivers were knocked out in the first stages of Sprint Qualifying and Qualifying, completing even fewer laps than in Australia. Stroll retired at the first corner after just nine laps, while Alonso was forced to stop due to the intensity of the vibrations.
Despite the setbacks, Alonso remains optimistic that the team can recover and improve over the course of the season.
Attention will now turn to the Japanese Grand Prix—Honda’s home race—where scrutiny on both the power unit and Aston Martin’s overall performance is set to intensify.
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