It is very likely that Audi will enter Formula 1 before the 2026 season. The German manufacturer has not yet explicitly confirmed its plans, although everything indicates that they would have closed an agreement with the Sauber team.
According to a study by Motorsport.com, the purchase of the shares by Audi will not be carried out in a single operation, but an acquisition is planned for several sections and, the first, would be already in 2023, when they would be made with 25% structure of Finn Rausing (Tetra Pak).
In retrospect, it makes sense that the team’s current title sponsor, the Alfa Romeo brand, made the surprise announcement on Friday, shortly after the announcement of Audi’s entry into Formula 1, that it would end its cooperation with the Sauber team at the end of that same season.
Something totally logical, since keeping the Alfa Romeo logos on a car that belongs 25% to another car manufacturer would have been damaging to its image.
It is not clear under what name the team will be renamed in 2024 and 2025. The option to go back to using the Sauber name seems logical, similar to what happened at Benetton, which already belonged to the Renault group in 2000 and 2001, but began to work as an “official” Renault team until 2022.
It is also unclear whether Ferrari will continue to supply engines to a team that will include a rival carmaker, Audi . It is possible that these are precisely the issues that have not yet been negotiated until an agreement is reached and that is why Sauber’s final announcement could not be communicated last Friday at the Belgian GP.
From 2026, the Hinwil -based racing team will officially start operating as an Audi works team, with Sauber reportedly disappearing from the name altogether. According to rumours, the German manufacturer plans to acquire 75% of the shares, leaving the rest under the control of Rausing , one of the main requirements of the operation.
Despite this, the CEO of Audi, Markus Duesmann , said that they would communicate the team with which they were going to associate “at the end of 2022”, although he made a clear nod to Sauber when making his first television interview after confirming his arrival at Formula 1 in front of the Swiss motorhome .
On the other hand, the possibility of Audi creating its own factory team from scratch in Formula 1 is totally ruled out, but rather it will take over an existing organization. This will also save the German marque some arguments with Toto Wolff and the rest of the team principals, something Michael Andretti can give credit for.
So, if this union is confirmed, which would be very close to closing, the Audi team’s chassis would be manufactured in Hinwil (Switzerland), while the engine would come from Neuburg (Germany), unlike Porsche , which will manufacture both the chassis and the engine. in Milton Keynes , Red Bull’s home base in England. A disadvantage for Audi, since higher salaries have to be paid in Switzerland and Germany and this could be noticed when working with future cost limits.
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