Wheatley-Binotto, the break has already arrived in Melbourne

Audi, Wheatley’s farewell decided already in Australia Audi is at the beginning of its adventure in Formula 1 and has already tasted those power dynamics that can lead to infighting, controversies and separations. In fact, Jonathan Wheatley was team principal for just two GPs, before leaving the team for unspecified “personal reasons”. Diplomatic words, which hide frictions that have been latent for months with Mattia Binotto over the definition of their respective responsibilities. In short, one of Binotto or Wheatley had to fall from the tower. And, according to what was gathered by the Japanese from as-web, the decisive argument took place on Saturday in Melbourne: “At that moment their relationship took a turn for the worse, it became clear that they would no longer be able to work together”. “However, with CEO Gernot Döllner traveling to Australia to attend Audi’s first Grand Prix, announcing his farewell at that juncture would have spoiled the mood. So Wheatley would have remained in place for a while longer.” In short, Binotto wanted and wants to be the absolute point of reference in the house of the four rings. It is no coincidence that he is not currently looking for a new team principal. The engineer from Reggio Emilia will be in charge of the Audi wall and will have a trusted deputy at his side, someone who will carry out his instructions when he cannot be physically present: the names of Allan McNish and Iñaki Rueda are mentioned.