Despite doubts about Audi’s involvement in Formula 1, Sauber confirms progress on project

Audi officially announced its acquisition of Sauber in August 2022 and, since then, the Swiss team has ramped up its infrastructure and workforce under the direction of CEO Andreas Seidl. Meanwhile, Audi is developing its power unit in a new facility dedicated to F1 in Neuberg.

However, last year, the CEO and strong supporter of F1, Markus Duesmann, left the company. His successor, Gernot Dollner, seems ambivalent about the project, with reports from Germany even suggesting that he would be willing to sell the team and abandon the planned entry into F1.

Last week, other rumors suggested that Oliver Hoffmann, Audi’s development director, should be placed in a role related to F1, potentially positioning him between Seidl and the company’s management board.

Good students, team principal of Stake Sauber, who will thus become Audi in 2026, emphasized that everything is going according to plan and that the changes in leadership within Audi have no impact. “There is a strong commitment from the Audi group at all levels,” he told the press at the conference. “We have always said that the decision to enter F1 was not based on the decision of individual people, but was based on the decision of the Audi board of directors.”

Speculation in the paddock suggests that the investment needed to strengthen the team, linked to the schedule which sees Sauber’s shares gradually pass to Audi, has not been sufficient to develop the team at the pace envisaged by Seidl. However, he assures that the project is progressing according to the schedule and governance agreed upon by the shareholders.

« Now, there are speculations in the media. It is normal that it would be interesting to understand the status of the Audi project. But for us, the status is good. We are working hard at all levels, together with Audi, both in Hinwil and Neuberg.

Alunni Bravi also reiterated that the development of the infrastructure in Hinwil is progress according to the scheduled timeline and that the team will be able to reach the required level. We know that in order to become competitive for a leading position, we need to improve our facilities, expand our workforce, invest in technology like all teams do.

« Over the past four years, we have seen teams building new wind tunnels to have state-of-the-art facilities. They have all invested in technology and in people. We are doing the same.

According to the governance, we will have the resources to achieve our goal. F1 is a technology sport. So, the journey is not a one-year journey. It is a process that we started under Andreas’s leadership, and we are working with the support of our shareholders.

So, there is and there will be a lot to do in order to do a good job, according to the necessary schedule to develop a factory team from an independent team. It’s a big step, of course.

Alunni Bravi is adamant that any speculation does not create any distraction, as the team is in discussions with potential drivers and continues to recruit key technical staff.

I don’t think there is any distraction because with all the parties we are talking to, drivers and engineers, the project is clear, they know exactly the schedule of our project, they know exactly who the leader of our group is, Andreas Seidl, and his vision.

Therefore, we are completely transparent. I believe we have already implemented a good recruitment plan, and we will see people coming in every week.