Reports emerged in recent days that Adrian Newey will step aside from the team principal role at the struggling Aston Martin squad, with Audi’s Wheatley in Aston’s sights.

Audi has now confirmed that Wheatley is indeed exiting the team, although curiously “personal reasons” have been named as the excuse for his exit.

In any case it paves the way for the ex-Red Bull Racing man to take over the reins at the Lawrence Stroll-owned Aston Martin squad at whatever point is allowed by his contract.

As for Audi, team figurehead Mattia Binotto will take over team principal responsibilities from next weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix onwards.

“We are grateful to Jonathan Wheatley for his contribution to the project during the crucial entry phase and wish him all the best for the future,” said Gernot Döllner, CEO of Audi AG and chairman of the board of management of Audi Motorsport AG.

“Mattia Binotto and the team will continue to pursue the path we have chosen with determination.

“Our focus remains unchanged: we are concentrating all our efforts on building a team competing at the highest level that will challenge for world championships in Formula 1 by 2030.

“We will continuously develop our organisational structures to achieve our shared goal in a sustainable manner.”

Should Aston Martin sign Wheatley as expected it would allow Newey to focus solely on the team’s technical challenges following a tough start to the new season.

The new regulations have proven tricky for both the team and new engine partner Honda, with neither Aston Martin driver having made the finish of the two grands prix so far this year.

Wheatley and Newey have history together, both emerging from the glory days of the Red Bull Racing empire.

Newey was the famous design hand behind many of RBR’s title-winning cars, while Wheatley was the team’s sporting director until the end of the 2024 season when he left to take the TP role at Sauber, which became Audi this year.

As it stands there is no official confirmation that Newey and Wheatley will be reunited at Aston Martin, although the team did issue a curious response to the rumours.

It was issued around a quarter of an hour after the news of Wheatley’s Audi exit, with Stroll Sr outlining that Aston’s unconventional team principal model is “by design”.

“With the current speculation surrounding Adrian Newey’s role in our team, I want to take this opportunity to set the record straight,” said Stroll.

“As executive chairman and controlling shareholder, I would like to reaffirm that Adrian Newey is my partner and an important shareholder. He is AMR’s managing technical partner, and he and I have a true partnership built on a shared vision of success for the company.

“We do things differently here, and while we don’t currently adopt the traditional Team Principal role that you see elsewhere – it is by design.

“As the most successful engineer ​in the history of the sport, Adrian’s primary focus is on the strategic and technical leadership where he excels. He is supported by a highly skilled senior leadership team to deliver on all aspects of the business, both at the campus and trackside.

“We are regularly approached by senior executives of other teams who wish to join Aston Martin Aramco, but in keeping with our policy, we do not comment on rumour and speculation.”