Audi will join the grand prix grid as a full factory team for the first time in 2026, perhaps the final frontier of motorsport the ‘four rings’ have yet to participate in.
The Volkswagen-owned brand has been a major player in international motorsport for decades, winning multiple World Rally Championship titles in the eighties and becoming a dominant force in endurance racing in the 2000s, winning the Le Mans 24 Hours 12 times in 15 attempts up to 2014. However, Audi have never participated in Formula 1, either as a constructor or engine manufacturer throughout the history of the world championship.At the 2022 Belgian Grand Prix, Audi officially confirmed their intention to join Formula 1 as a power unit manufacturer with the next generation of F1 power units came into effect in 2026.
“Racing motorsport is in the DNA of Audi,” said then-Audi chairman Markus Duesmann. “Audi has always been active and been successful in motor racing. We want to continue this success story now in Formula 1. I think it’s a perfect timing, due to the new rules that were established, for us to enter F1.”
The increased hybridisation of the revised 1.6-litre V6 power units appealed to Audi who have long invested in electric motors technology in the World Endurance Championship (using hybrids) and Formula E. Formula 1’s growth in popularity since its takeover by Liberty Media increased its appeal to Audi.
Soon after the announcement, Audi confirmed that they had chosen Sauber to be their factory team partners and immediately began work on building their engine facility in Neuberg an der Donau. Audi hired Le Mans 24 Hours winner and WEC champion Neel Jani as simulator driver to aid development of their power unit as they ramped up early preparations.
In March 2024, Audi confirmed they would complete a full purchase of the Sauber team. The following month, Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg was named as Audi’s first driver for 2026, joining Sauber ahead of their transition for 2025. By the summer, Audi said it had already run a prototype 2026 power unit to a full race distance on their test bench.
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Originally, former McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl was hired as Sauber CEO to help spearhead the team’s Audi transition. But in the summer of 2024, Seidl stepped down from his position, with former Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto recruited as Sauber’s COO.
Without Sauber being without an official team principal following the departure of Frederic Vasseur to Ferrari, the question of who would become team principal of Audi’s F1 effort was answered in 2024 – by Red Bull. The world champions announced at the start of August that their long time sporting director, Jonathan Wheatley, would leave the team at the end of the 2024 season – but revealed that he was doing so to become Audi’s team principal. Audi confirmed the news later that day.
Audi’s entrance into Formula 1 comes with many questions over their potential performance, especially given the decline in form of Sauber over the 2024 season. But given that Audi have succeeded in virtually everything else they have attempted in motorsport, it seems foolish to doubt their potential when they finally join the grid in 2026.