News reached us last week of two new piranhas who’ll be joining the club before its great rules reset in 2026. The beleaguered Alpine squad will install Oliver Oakes as team principal imminently, while Audi, entering F1 for the first time 18 months from now through its acquisition of Sauber, will place Jonathan Wheatley in the same role, but not until he’s seen out his Red Bull Racing notice period and spent time tending his garden.
Neither may be familiar to you. At just 36, Oakes, a former racer, has overseen multiple championship victories in the junior categories with his Hitech team and earned a fine reputation while doing so. Wheatley’s is a more recognisable face – he’s been Red Bull’s team manager and latterly Sporting Director for years, seen every other weekend on the team’s pit wall alongside Horner and Newey.
Those newbies will join two others who are just months into their first team principal roles at the time of writing – Ayao Komatsu at Haas and Laurent Mekies at RB only took up their positions at the start of this season. Additionally, James Vowles at Williams, McLaren’s Andrea Stella and Aston Martin’s Mike Krack are in just their second or third seasons in the top job.
