Audi To Take Majority Stake In Sauber F1 Team

Audi is all set to announce its entrance in F1 with the acquisition of the Sauber F1 team which currently has a partnership with Alfa Romeo. With the finalisation of the 2026 F1 engine formula, Volkswagen group brands -- Porsche and Audi are set to announce their entrance in the pinnacle of motorsports. 

The Volkswagen group wanted the FIA to have a more sustainable engine formula which was cheaper and used more electrical elements apart from also having compatibility with road cars. Largely, it is believed the new engine formula which will start in 2026 has been designed keeping in mind the requirements of the Volkswagen group. 

Porsche is set to be joining F1 with a partnership with Red Bull’s F1 team where it will make a significant investment in Red Bull technologies. Porsche will likely take over Red Bull Powertrains, the engine manufacturing operation Red Bull announced in 2021 after Honda announced its exit from F1 in 2020. 

For Audi, many believed a takeover of the McLaren team was long rumoured but that didn’t materialise as the Woking-based team wanted to maintain its independence. McLaren never really was interested in selling a majority stake but was interested in an engine supply deal for a works relationship. 

Sauber, which has an engine partnership with Ferrari and a branding and marketing partnership with Alfa Romeo, could be the benefactor of Audi’s F1 ambitions. Audi is said to take a controlling stake in the company with the chassis being built in Hinwil at its cutting edge wind tunnel and the engine being manufactured in Germany by Audi itself. 

Interestingly, Markus Duesmann, the CEO of Audi who has been one of the greatest backers of the brand’s entry to F1 was the head of development at BMW-Sauber between 2007 and 2009. He knows the Swiss Hinwil operation which is the Sauber home. 

Audi has beaten Andretti global which was looking to acquire Sauber to make its entry in F1 last year. Audi beat Andretti as it was willing to use the Hinwil factory and will be paid more of a smaller percentage while Rausing remains on the board as a minority owner. 

It has been reported that Audi also hired Adam Baker at the end of 2021 for a special tasks role that is set for the managing director role at the new team. Baker also previously worked at BMW when he met Duesmann and then worked at the FIA. 

Audi’s announcement could come as soon as this weekend as F1 returns to the Spa for the Belgian GP. While this happens, it seems like the Red Bull and Porsche announcement has been delayed. 

As a part of the plan to lure more engine manufacturers in F1, FIA now has formulated an engine that runs increasingly on electric power with a 350 kW MGU-K and an 1,000 bhp engine which uses only 70 kg of fuel that is synthetic fuel that is fully sustainable. FIA will also move away from controlling the fuel flow pressure to maximum energy flow rate. FIA has also eliminated the MGU-H which resulted in huge development costs for the current manufacturers and has constrained dyno testing time. 

It should be noted when the FIA and the F1 manufacturers were having their discussions about the next F1 engine formula Markus Duesmann and Olive Blume were part of those meetings. Blume of course was the CEO of Porsche, but in the last month has become the CEO of the Volkswagen group after Herbert Diess was ousted.