Jonathan Wheatley will leave his role as Red Bull’s Sporting Director to become Team Principal of the Audi F1 Team.

Wheatley has become a significant senior figure during nearly two decades with the organisation and played a key role in winning 13 World Championships.

“It has been a long and successful relationship with Jonathan, over 18 years,” said Red Bull boss Christian Horner.

“His contribution to six World Constructors’ Titles and seven World Drivers’ Championship, first as Team Manager and latterly Sporting Director will forever be a marker in our Team history.”

Red Bull say Wheatley will remain in his position until the end of the 2024 season, before entering a period of gardening leave in 2025.

The team added: “Everyone at Oracle Red Bull Racing and Red Bull Technology wish him all the best in his new role and would like to place our thanks to Jonathan.

“Red Bull Racing have tremendous strength and depth and this provides opportunity to elevate others within the Team. We will announce a new Team structure in the coming weeks.”

Audi also later confirmed the appointment with Gernot Dollner, CEO of AUDI AG, saying: "I am delighted that we have been able to gain Jonathan Wheatley as Team Principal for our future Formula 1 team.

"Jonathan has played a major part in many Formula 1 race victories and World Championship titles in his Formula 1 career so far, and has extensive experience in the paddock. He is a very valuable addition to our team."

The news comes just over a week after it was announced Audi CEO Andreas Seidl and Audi executive Oliver Hoffman were leaving the project with ex-Ferrari Team Principal Mattia Binotto arriving to head it up.

Binotto’s official title is Chief Operating Officer and Chief Technical Officer with Audi saying he and Wheatley will together head the new management team at Sauber Motorsport AG. In their new positions, both will report directly to Dollner.

Wheatley said: “I am extremely proud to have been a part of the Red Bull Racing journey over the last 18 years and will leave with many fond memories. However, the opportunity to play an active part in Audi’s entry into Formula 1 as head of a factory team is a uniquely exciting prospect, and I am looking forward to the challenge.

"Also I am glad to be working together with Mattia, whom I have known for many years and who is the right person to collaborate with in this exciting project."

Binotto said: “I have known Jonathan for many years and rate him highly as an experienced and committed motorsport expert. 2026 is not a long time away now, and I’m looking forward to setting up the new racing team for Audi along with Jonathan and leading it to success."

Dollner added: "With the appointment of Jonathan and Mattia we have taken a decisive step towards our entry into Formula 1.

"I am convinced that with the two of them, we have been able to combine an extremely high level of competence for Audi. Their experience and their ability will help us to get a foothold quickly in the tough competitive world of Formula 1."

Wheatley is the second major player to this year announce their departure from Red Bull, with design guru Adrian Newey set to leave after almost 20 years with the team.

Lewis Hamilton’s race engineer Pete Bonnington has committed his future to Mercedes after securing a promotion to Head of Race Engineering.

Bonnington has worked with Hamilton since the seven-time world champion joined the team in 2013, the duo winning six world titles together.

When Hamilton announced he would be joining Ferrari next season, it remained unclear whether Bonnington – often referred to as Bono – would follow or stay with Mercedes.

However, ahead of this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix, a Mercedes spokesperson confirmed to Formula1.com that Bonnington will assume his new role with immediate effect. Bono will dovetail that role with continuing to race engineer Hamilton for the remainder of the season.

He will then continue to race engineer one driver next year, though it remains unclear whether that will be George Russell or Hamilton’s replacement. Mercedes protégé and F2 racer Kimi Antonelli is favourite to get the nod.

It is a similar arrangement to what Red Bull have, with Gianpiero Lambiase working as Head of Race Engineering while also continuing to race engineer reigning world champion Max Verstappen.

Bonnington’s new arrangement continues a stint with the squad that began when they were Honda and continued when they became BrawnGP and then Mercedes.

During that time, he’s worked with the likes of world champions Michael Schumacher and Jenson Button and built up a wealth of experience trackside.

Williams have announced that academy driver and F2 racer Franco Colapinto will contest the remainder of the season with the squad, replacing Logan Sargeant as Alex Albon’s team mate from the Italian Grand Prix.

Colapinto joined the Williams Racing Driver Academy in early 2023 and made his FP1 debut with the F1 team at this year’s British Grand Prix – giving him an initial taste of the FW46.

A race winner in an array of categories on the junior single-seater scene, the 21-year-old had been contesting his second season in the F2 feeder championship, holding sixth in the 2024 standings with a race win and two second-place finishes to his name.

He will become the first Argentine driver in F1 for 23 years, after Gaston Mazzacane’s last appearances for Prost back in 2001, and only the second Argentine to drive for Williams, following on from his countryman Carlos Reutemann.

In their press release, Williams took the opportunity “to thank Logan Sargeant for his hard work and contribution over the past two seasons”, adding he “will remain in the Williams family and we will support him to continue his racing career”.

It comes after a particularly challenging run for the American, who crashed his updated Williams at last weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix, a few weeks on from confirmation that he will be replaced by Carlos Sainz next year.

“It is an honour to be making my Formula 1 debut with Williams – this is what dreams are made of,” Colapinto said of the news. “The team has such amazing history and a mission to get back to the front which I can’t wait to be part of.

“Coming into F1 mid-season will be an enormous learning curve but I am up for the challenge, and I’m fully focused on working as hard as I can with Alex and the team to make it a success.”

Williams Team Principal James Vowles added: “To replace a driver mid-season is not a decision we have taken lightly, but we believe this gives Williams the best chance to compete for points over the remainder of the season.

“We have just brought a large upgrade to the car and need to maximise every points-scoring opportunity in a remarkably tight midfield battle.

“We also believe in investing in our young drivers in the Williams Racing Driver Academy, and Franco is getting a fantastic opportunity to demonstrate what he is capable of across the final nine rounds of the season.

“This is undoubtedly incredibly tough on Logan, who has given his all throughout his time with Williams, and we want to thank him for all his hard work and positive attitude. Logan remains a talented driver and we will support him to continue his racing career for the future.

“I know that Franco has great speed and huge potential, and we look forward to seeing what he can do in Formula 1.”