Red Bull’s dilemma for how to replace Jonathan Wheatley✃ has been picked out.

Wheatley will exit his role as Red Bull’s sporting director at the end of this season 🍬to become Audi෴’s team principal.

Audi insist he will join by July 2025♌ at the latest after a period of gardening leave, while Red Bull have vowed to look internally for a replacementꦅ.

Ted Kravitz said on the Sky F1 podca🤪st: “Who will they get to replace him is the other question? Being such a valuable guy in terms of♏ the rules and keeping a razor sharp race team, how will they divide it up?

“I can think of quite a few guys wit🌸hin Red Bull who were mechanics but have risen through to senior roles. Wheatley used to be a chief mechanic at Benetton.

“I can imagine thꦯose guys moving up, they know the rulജes as well.

“Some people have sp🉐eculated that Gianpiero Lambiase might go into that sporting director role.

“I don’t think he w𒁏ants to leave the cut and thrust, and the fun, 𝓀of racing every week.

“That is fun, until it’s not. It’s fun winning🎃 races and championsh𝕴ips. I’m not sure if GP wants to leave that.

“Red Bull will promote൩ from within. They might get two people. A chief mechanic who will run the race team pit stops, and they’ll find someone who knows the rules well for the s💫porting director role.”

Wheat✤ley has previously described his sporting director role, where his knowledge of the F1 rules gives Red Bull an advantage during race weekends: “The way I do my job is insane in a lot of ways because I think through every single scenario that I think could happen and I look at the rules and I look at how the team might react and I try to come up with an idea.”

Media challenge awaits Jonathan Wheatley

Audi’s major investment, ahead of their full 2026 entry, includes Wheat𓆏ley as team principal and Mattia Binotti as Chief Operating and Chief Technical Officer.

“Wheatley has got a lot to do, working with Binotto who൩ he already knows,” Kravitz.

“His expertise is as t🍬he rules man. He knows the rule book better than anyone else in the world.

“He needs to learn everyoꦦne’s name, learn the language, u💎nderstand how they work before identifying whether he needs to change it.

“Will he turn up to team principals’ meetinꦿg ♛or will he leave it to Binotto?”

Kravitz adde🅠d: “The rules guy, who has won Red Bull races and championships because of h💮is innate knowledge of the rules and how they can be used, he is going.

“Did he always have ambitions to be a team principal? I suppose so. He’s ambitious, as ꦚmost people in F1 are.

“Christian Horner isn’t going anywhere. Earlier in the year, Wheatley was supposed by 𒊎the media as a potential Horner replacement if that was necessary, which now we know it isn’t.

“I don’t think Wheatley wi𒅌ll have🌟 pushed his name to the media.

“Wheatley will have to face the media. I don’t think I’ve seen an in-depth interview with Wheatley. Red Bull have allowed us to talk💛 to him, to talk about Red Bull being the best at pit stops.

“Wheatley will hav⭕e to do his first big inter✃views with people.”