David Coulthard showed his support for Jonathan Wheatley’s move to Aston Martin as team principal following his sudden and immediate departure from Audi in Formula 1. In the new team, he would take over Adrian Newey’s role at the helm.
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On March 20, the German team confirmed the executive’s departure with immediate effect for personal reasons – it turns out that during the same period, rumors began about his probable move to Lawrence Stroll’s team.
According to Motorsport, Newey is expected to step away from the role of Aston Martin team principal to focus on his responsibilities as a technical management partner. However, the British team has already moved to deny the rumors, with Lawrence issuing a statement saying “as executive chairman and controlling shareholder, I would like to reaffirm that Adrian Newey is my partner and an important shareholder.”
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“He is the technical managing partner of AMR, and we have a true partnership built on a shared vision of success for the company. We do things differently here, and while we do not currently adopt the traditional team leader role seen elsewhere, this is intentional,” he continued.
With the rumors discussed on the Up to Speed podcast, Coulthard praised Wheatley and showed support for his possible team change. “I think you are underestimating how warm Jonathan is. I know he is a fighter. He will do whatever it takes with sporting ethics. I am a big fan of Jonathan. I would have him on my team without a second thought.”
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