Christian Horner Sets Special Plan Into Motion as “Expensive Man” Jonathan Wheatley Calls It Quits

“It’s probably the first domino to fall” – McLaren’s Zak Brown had said this when Adrian Newey announced his exit from Red Bull. Brown had revealed there were many resumes “flying around” in F1 town since a handful of RBR officials wanted to leave. Well, the prediction has come true since another top-ranking Red Bull official has now decided to leave the Milton-Keynes team. Their Sporting Director Jonathan Wheatley is leaving in 2025, and the Briton will take up the role of Audi’s Team Principal now.

When Jonathan Wheatley confirmed he was quitting Red Bull in an elaborate statement, Christian Horner also said some sweet things for him. Horner commented, “It has been a long and successful relationship with Jonathan, over 18 years.” And even though losing Adrian Newey and Jonathan Wheatley is a big blow to his team, Christian Horner wants to view this as an opportunity to rebuild and recognize. Thus, the 50-year-old said, “Red Bull Racing has tremendous strength and depth and this provides an opportunity to elevate others within the team.”

However, Horner’s tone made a 180° turn when he spoke about Jonathan Wheatley a second time. Now, the Briton was not so courteous as some of his disappointment with Wheatley came through. Blick quoted Christian Horner saying, “I know that Jonathan wants to leave. Why not? He is an expensive man and I can employ a few engineers for his salary.” Thus, not only does Christian see Jonathan’s exit from Red Bull as an opportunity to restructure, but also to hire more engineers with the same pay.

While Christian Horner looks unfazed that his team has lost Jonathan Wheatley, things might get worse from here. According to F1 pundit Johnnie Herbert, Red Bull needs to brace for another high-profile exit soon—but who will that be?

Johnnie Herbert makes an ominous prediction about Red Bull

First, it was Adrian Newey who decided to leave Red Bull early next year. Now, it is Jonathan Herbert. So, 2025 will see two heavyweight officials from the Milton-Keynes team leave consecutively. And if this weakens Christian Horner’s army, then Max Verstappen might take the exit as well. The Dutch lion has stayed loyal to Red Bull ever since joining the team in 2014. But now, the situation has changed as his team is constantly at the risk of losing the Championship fight to McLaren. And Mercedes’ Toto Wolff has also claimed many times that he wants to hire Verstappen.

So, F1 pundit and former racer Johnnie Herbert said, “I can see Red Bull starting to unravel. [And] Max sounds like a driver who is starting to lose respect for Red Bull. He is making a few mistakes. The car is not performing like it was. His frustrations come out for the world to hear.” If this premonition comes true, then RBR will need to replace its Golden Dutch along with its CTO and Sporting Director next year.

For every Formula 1 team that has reigned at the top for several years, there comes a time when things go wrong. For Mercedes, it had happened in 2021 when they could not help Lewis Hamilton get his eighth World Championship. So, Red Bull might be going through the same situation now. Do you think the Austrian outfit can turn things around and restructure (as Horner claimed) to put up a fight like no other squad in the upcoming races of this year?