The German car manufacturer officially confirmed its entry into Formula 1 from the 2026 season in an announcement during the Belgian Grand Prix, and in the statement they explained that its arrival at the highest category of motorsport would be by manufacturing its own unit of power at its headquarters in Neuburg .
They are scheduled to partner with Sauber after Alfa Romeo exits at the end of 2023 as lead partner, although there is no confirmation on this.
Audi’s decision to create its engine has sparked some intrigue, as Volkswagen Group sister firm Porsche plans to join Red Bull in the coming weeks to start work in Milton Keynes on building its own engine. .
That means the parent company of the Germans will have to fund two power unit development programs, which will be much more expensive than sharing designs and renaming them.
Speaking about the decision to have two separate projects, Audi’s chairman of the board, Markus Deusmann , said that they had long talks within the company about sharing resources with Porsche.
However, in the end, he expressed that the need to optimize the engines for the individual teams caused Audi to opt to create its own power unit.
“You can imagine there was a big discussion,” he said. “But we decided, since both our brands have a huge following and both have a special character, to keep it completely separate and do two projects.”
“We had various reasons. We will have different teams, and the powertrain has to be specially designed for one chassis,” explained Deusmann. “That’s why we decided to split it, because we will have completely different chassis and engines.”
Audi’s head of technical development, Oliver Hoffmann , commented: “To meet the schedule, the work of integrating the electrified part into the powertrain, together with the chassis, is difficult to do in two cars.”
“So they are completely different operations, and we will do the integration work ourselves,” revealed one of the biggest names in the German plan.
Audi lags far behind other manufacturers such as Mercedes and Ferrari when it comes to understanding Formula 1’s turbo-hybrid engine regulations, so they need to catch up if they want to be competitive from the 2026 season. .
However, the car company believes that the way in which the new rules have been drafted, to give more freedom to the participants who arrive, should allow them to be updated in time.
“First of all, it’s really a big challenge to get the job done by 2026,” Hoffmann said. “But I think we found some compromises with the regulations that allow us to go in [on a level playing field] with all the other competitors, and we love the challenge.”
“We have been able to run the Dakar, and to develop the car, which also has a very complex powertrain in less than a year, and I think we will be able to develop that engine by 2026 as well,” he continued.
For his part, Deusmann said: “It is clear that we are at a point where we are behind, and the others already have engines that work, but the changes in the regulation have been big enough for us to see an opportunity to enter and be competitive.
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