Red Bull boss Christian Horner has denied the team is in a “rebuild” despite the exits of key Formula 1 personnel Adrian Newey and Jonathan Wheatley.
Long-serving figureheads of Red Bull’s F1 success story, 2025 marks the first year the team is without Newey and Wheatley.
Newey left the F1 operation in May, completing his work on the RB17 hypercar and is poised to start work at Aston Martin in March as its Managing Technical Partner.
Wheatley, meanwhile, has vacated his role as Sporting Director and is amid a period of gardening leave ahead of his move to Sauber/Audi as Team Principal.
Despite the seniority and impact these two individuals had at Red Bull, Horner isn’t pushing the pain button by any measure.
“There’s only two going and obviously, Adrian left in Miami, so we haven’t seen him [since],” Horner told Motorsport.com.
“He’s been working on the RB17 since then, so he’s not been working on any F1 projects.
“Obviously, sad to see [Newey and Wheatley] go. They’ve both played important roles in the team over their tenure in the team.
“But the show goes on, and I think we’ve got the strength and depth we’ve got.
“We have that and arguably 2026 – what we’re gearing up for in 2026 with our own power unit – is by far the biggest challenge and the most ambitious project this team has ever taken on.
“So, 2025, Jonathan will step off the pitwall, but other than that, everything remains the same.
“I would say rebuild goes way too far for two people that have left. It’s evolution.
“It’s something that has been on the cards for a little while, so something that has been part of the planning for some time.”
Red Bull has handed out promotions to avoid stagnation
With Newey and Wheatley departing, Red Bull has made a series of changes within its organisation.
Max Verstappen’s Race Engineer Gianpiero Lambiase is the recipient of a promotion to Head of Racing, but Horner insists he will still be the man guiding the reigning F1 champion through races.
“Yes, he’ll still be working directly with Max,” Horner confirmed.
“He just takes on a broader role, obviously, as he steps up.”
In addition to Lambiase’s promotion, former Senior Strategy Engineer Stephen Knowles has been appointed Head of Sporting Regulations, assuming a large portion of Wheatley’s former duties by being Red Bull’s point of contact with the FIA, ensuring compliance with the regulations.
In addition, Senior Engineer of Car Engineering Richard Wolverson has been handed the title of Head of Racing Operations.
“It’s just a natural progression trackside with those personnel,” Horner said of the promotions.
“It’s great because it gives them an opportunity and sometimes an organisation, if it remains stagnant, it fails to progress.
“So, I think this is a fantastic opportunity of progression for many people in the team that have been long standing team members that deserve that opportunity.”
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