Audi’s F1 plans take shape as Sauber announcement looms – Autosport

But amid growing indications that confirmation of their intentions for 2026 is now imminent, Audi may be the first to reveal its plans and could do so as early as this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix.
After months of discussions to sort out a partner team, it is understood that an agreement is now in place between Audi and the Sauber team, which currently competes under the Alfa Romeo moniker.
Audi had originally negotiated with McLaren about a takeover of team shares, having been initially put in touch with the team and its owners through former McLaren F1 racer Gerhard Berger.
“I established the contact with McLaren,” said the DTM boss. “McLaren would have been a candidate as a partner for Audi in Formula 1.”
But the talks between McLaren’s owners, the Bahrain sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat, and Audi ultimately came to nothing. In the end, Sauber emerged as the preferred candidate following an evaluation of Aston Martin and Williams.
Discussions have now advanced with Sauber, after its owner Finn Rausing previously rejected an offer from Michael Andretti to sell the team for 350 million euros at the end of 2021.
It was suggested that Rausing insisted on the continued existence of the Sauber Group at the Hinwil site and the preservation of jobs, and also demanded a further 250 million euros as a contribution to the team in order to be sure the team was in safe hands.
In the end, Andretti walked away because of terms it could not accept.
Audi F1 car render
Photo by: Camille Debastiani
With Audi, Sauber is getting a strong partner who, according to sources, is prepared to pay more than Andretti for a smaller percentage of the company. Rausing is set to remain on board as a minority owner.
There is also the promise to further develop Sauber as a factory team – very similar to how the Sauber-BMW partnership worked between 2006 and 2009.
PLUS: How BMW-Sauber blew its chance of title glory
It’s interesting to note that current Audi CEO Markus Duesmann, who has pushed the brand’s F1 entry, was head of development at the BMW-Sauber team between 2007 and 2009 and still knows the Hinwil operation from back then.
Autosport understands that the plan includes continuing to build the chassis in Hinwil, where one of F1’s most modern windtunnels is still located.
The powertrain is to be created at Audi’s site in Neuburg and thus developed and produced on German soil.
This is unlike VW Group sister company Porsche, which will develop large parts of its engine at Red Bull’s Milton Keynes powertrains division.
Like Porsche, Audi is to set up a new company for its F1 project. There are suggestions that Adam Baker, whom Audi hired at the end of 2021 for “special tasks,” is set for a managing director role. Baker previously worked at BMW, where he first met Duesmann, and at the FIA.
Another obvious candidate for the post would have been the current head of sport Julius Seebach, who as CEO of Audi Sport is more experienced in higher management than Baker.
However, it is understood that Seebach is about to be replaced and has been linked with a newly created position in Audi’s development department.
Seebach is thought to be on his way out of his current role as head of Audi Sport
Photo by: Audi Communications Motorsport
While Audi’s plans are making good progress, a public announcement about Red Bull and Porsche’s tie-up has not happened as quickly as some had anticipated.
For weeks, delays in finalising the 2026 engine rules were cited as the reason that neither car company wanted to commit until they were sure about the regulations.
Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko told Autosport at the Hungarian GP: “VW’s board decision is that if the technical regulations meet the criteria, then they have the mandate to go into Formula 1.
“Purely formally, however, these new regulations do not yet exist. The FIA president is supposedly going to put it to the vote in an email ballot soon. Only then will it officially start.”
The engine rules were subsequently signed off on 16 August, but there is still no indication of when an official communication from Red Bull and Porsche will be made.
However, a recent document published by anti-cartel authorities in Morocco relating to the Porsche/Red Bull tie-up has indicated that it will wait until 30 August for any feedback from interested parties before giving its green light to the plan.
It is possible that only then will Porsche feel everything is in place for it to go public with its ambitions.
Sven Haidinger contributed to this report
Gasly: Too early to think about F1 future options
Zhou impressed by unity between F1 drivers over big issues
Mercedes: Shock of F1 2022 struggles has done team “no harm”
Alpine investigating hydrogen power as F1’s future
The traits that fuelled Alonso’s unexpected Aston Martin move
Sauber keen to “give the best to Alfa Romeo” amid Audi F1 links
Archive: How unflappable rookie Raikkonen took F1 by storm
How Raikkonen’s rapid rise stalled his team-mate’s F1 career climb
Magnussen: Haas will get more opportunities as cost cap evens F1 teams out
Haas driver Kevin Magnussen believes his Formula 1 team will get even more opportunities as the cost cap will gradually erode the top teams’ advantage.
Mercedes: Shock of F1 2022 struggles has done team “no harm”
Mercedes is convinced that the shock it experienced from its Formula 1 struggles this year has done the team “no harm” in the long term.
Solberg offers rally car outing to McLaren F1 star Norris
World Rally Championship driver Oliver Solberg has offered Formula 1 driver Lando Norris an outing in a rally car after the McLaren driver revealed a desire to try the discipline.
Alfa Romeo: “Good restart” was what Bottas needed in Formula 1
Frederic Vasseur believes Alfa Romeo offered Valtteri Bottas the “good restart” he needed in Formula 1 after leaving Mercedes at the end of last year. 
Why Spa can reveal the most about Mercedes’ powers of resurrection
After a difficult start to Formula 1’s ground effect-era, Mercedes has shown signs of recovery in recent races by regularly finishing on the podium and even taking pole last time out in Hungary. With more time to understand its W13 car and its improvement in recent races, plus a new technical directive coming into force for Spa, the Belgian GP could be a crucial barometer of its progress
How Senna’s first F1 winner gave Lotus life after Chapman
Designed by Gérard Ducarouge, the 97T returned Lotus to the winners circle for the first time since the death of its founder but also, as STUART CODLING reveals, gave the team a problem holding onto its new star
Grading F1’s 2022 drivers at half-term
Over the first 13 races of Formula 1’s new ground effects era, Max Verstappen has surged into the lead in the world championship over Charles Leclerc. But as the 2022 season prepares to roar back into life, who stacks up as the top of the class, and who must do better? We graded every driver based on their performances so far
The 10 stories to watch out for across the rest of the 2022 F1 season
It’s 13 down, nine to go as the Formula 1 teams pause for breath in the summer break. But what can we expect to happen over the next three months from Belgium to Abu Dhabi? Here’s the key storylines to keep an eye out for the rest of the 2022 season
The inconvenient truth about F1’s ‘American driver’ dream
OPINION: The Formula 1 grid’s wait for a new American driver looks set to continue into 2023 as the few remaining places up for grabs – most notably at McLaren – look set to go elsewhere. This is despite the Woking outfit giving tests to IndyCar aces recently, showing that the Stateside single-seater series still has some way to go to being seen as a viable feeder option for F1
How a bad car creates the ultimate engineering challenge
While creating a car that is woefully off the pace is a nightmare scenario for any team, it inadvertently generates the test any engineering department would relish: to turn it into a winner. As Mercedes takes on that challenge in Formula 1 this season, McLaren’s former head of vehicle engineering reveals how the team pulled of the feat in 2009 with Lewis Hamilton
The under-fire F1 driver fighting for his future
Personable, articulate 
and devoid of the usual
 racing driver airs and graces,
 Nicholas Latifi is the last Formula 1 driver you’d expect to receive death threats, but such was the toxic legacy of his part in last year’s explosive season finale. And now, as ALEX KALINAUCKAS explains, he faces a battle to keep his place on the F1 grid…
The strange tyre travails faced by F1’s past heroes
Modern grand prix drivers like to think the tyres they work with are unusually difficult and temperamental. But, says  MAURICE HAMILTON, their predecessors faced many of the same challenges – and some even stranger…

source