German car maker Audi It will appear for the first time in Formula 1 In 2026 as an engine supplier, the company’s CEO, Marcus Dussmann, announced Friday at a press conference in Spa-Francorchamps, on the sidelines Belgian Grand Prix.
Duesmann explained that Audi will develop its hybrid engine in Neuburg an der Donau in Bavaria, southern Germany, and partner with a Formula 1 team “to be announced by the end of the year”.
Close the alliance?
According to the specialized press, this alliance can be closed with Sauber, which currently competes under the name Alfa Romeo and has Ferrari engines.
Another indication that reinforces this assumption is the announcement on Friday by Alfa Romeo that it will end its collaboration with Sauber at the end of 2023.
The Hinwil team can now collaborate with Audi and supply the German chassis to the German brand.
‘Excellent timing’
Hamilton has taken pole position since the start of the Spanish Grand Prix.
Thus, Audi joins Mercedes, Ferrari, Renault and Red Bull (with Honda Technology) as an engine manufacturer. The announcement comes ten days after the FIA World Motorsport Council approved a regulation on new engines from 2026.
“It’s perfect timing with the new regulations: F1 changes in a way that allows us access, with a very important part of the electricity” In the hybrid engine, the Duesmann, which is in Belgium was developed with Stefano Domenicali, president of Formula 1 and Mohamed Ben Sulayem, president of the FIA.
The engines, hybrids since 2014, will see an increase in electric power from 2026 and will use 100% sustainable fuel, a requirement of the German brand. “We have decided to become a 100% electric car manufacturer,” by 2033, the luxury brand’s style of the Four Rings reminds us.
Audi also noted the importance of the current budget limit for the teams, as well as implementing another limit in 2023 for engine manufacturers. “It’s a big event for our sport,” Stefano Domenicali rejoiced. “It is an important recognition because our choice of sustainable fuel hybrid engines by 2026 is a solution for the future of the automotive sector.”
Audi, like the Volkswagen Group as a whole, is committed to the shift towards electric technology, and wants to use the F1 Showcase to showcase its greener progress and ambitions. His arrival also means the return of Formula 1 engine manufacturing on German soil, with Mercedes developing its own engine in the UK.
Union with Sauber?
The possibility of creating a team from scratch has been denied and everything seems to indicate that, either through cooperation or purchase, it is a gateway to
The Audi to Formula 1 is likely to be that of the Swiss chassis at Sauber, which will run until the end of 2023 under the name of its sponsor Alfa Romeo.
Following Audi’s announcement, Porsche should soon announce its entry into the motorsport elite. Although both brands belong to the Volkswagen Group, Duesmann specifies that they will be “two completely different programmes”, with an Audi chassis in Germany and a hypothetical Porsche base in the UK.
This precision opens the door to a possible return for Porsche to Formula 1 by cooperating with Red Bull: buying up to 50% of the Austrian team located in Milton Keynes (England), the current leader in the manufacturers’ championship.
Unlike Audi, Porsche has already competed in Formula 1 three times: in the 1960s as a factory team, as a manufacturer of McLaren engines between 1983 and 1987 and as the short-lived Team Futurk in 1991.
France Press agency
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