The Abu Dhabi 2021 season will go down in F1 folklore as one of the most controversial moments, after Max Verstappen sealed the title in a one-lap shootout with Lewis Hamilton.
In the build-up to the final lap, Williams driver Nicholas Latifi had crashed and brought out the Safety Car. In an attempt to get racing back underway, Race Director Michael Masi instructed that only some lapped cars should pass the Safety Car rather than all, which contravenes the wording of the rules.
With all the cars between Hamilton and Verstappen cleared, the race was resumed and the Dutchman, who made a last-minute pit stop for fresher tyres, made the move on the final lap at Turn 5.
The decision to get racing underway as quickly as possible was partially influenced by Red Bull’s sporting director, Jonathan Wheatley, who effectively lobbied Masi to restart the race.
Wheatley left Red Bull at the end of the 2024 season to take up the role as team principal of Audi’s F1 project, which prompted some concern from Jos Verstappen.
Amid speculation that Verstappen could choose to leave Red Bull midway through 2026, Jos’ concerns over Wheatley’s exit appear to be vindicated in a recent interview on Beyond the Grid.
Jonathan Wheatley’s quick decision-making led to Max Verstappen’s first title
Wheatley’s role within Red Bull encompassed a lot of things, as it is the sporting director’s responsibility to know the rulebook insideout.
Verstappen voiced his concerns over Wheatley’s exit, while questioning Red Bull’s ability to deliver a title-winning car without influential figures such as him and Adrian Newey.
His latest comments on Abu Dhabi 2021 appear to vindicate this, as it was his quick decision-making that led to Verstappen’s first title.
“I was really busy on the intercom internally. We were dealing with retiring his car. It wasn’t straightforward retirement. Then there’s this accident,” said Wheatley.
“The biggest thing is, are we boxing? Aren’t we boxing? Is Max coming in for tyres? Isn’t he coming in? There’s a bit of talk about that.
“Bang, we come in for tires. And then at the same time, you can see that there’s a load of lapped cars out there. And you’re thinking, and I’ll be honest with you, I wasn’t 100% sure what lap we were on.
“All I knew about was I wanted everything cleaned up as quickly as possible and get racing. The race was restarted, Max won and we’re celebrating. And it was an incredible feeling.”
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Jonathan Wheatley was a key part of Red Bull’s inner success team
Although Wheatley was often the voice that could be heard speaking to the Race Director to discuss sporting matters, he also played a key role in masterminding their blisteringly quick pit stops.
Red Bull’s pit crew have been the fastest team in F1, having won the Fastest Pit Stop Award for seven consecutive years between 2018 and 2024.
His impact on the team was seen at the recent Bahrain Grand Prix, when both Verstappen and Yuki Tsunoda encountered slow pit stops that dramatically impacted their strategy.
It prevented Verstappen from potentially challenging for a podium in the race, while Tsunoda lost out on more points for Red Bull with the four-second stop – double what they normally are for the team.
Martin Brundle said Wheatley will have likely been ‘glancing’ from the Sauber pit wall and looking at the chaos at Red Bull, which was attributed to a technical glitch in their traffic light system.
Wheatley’s impact has been seen already at Sauber, with the team breaking into the top five fastest pit stops.
