Audi officially confirmed at the end of August 2022 that it will be present at the F1. We will have to wait until 2026 season to see him compete on the track. Yes, there are three and a half years left, a long time, but the German firm is already working on the development of all the parts that make up its car.
After that first announcement, made at the Spa Grand Prix, the company has not given many details. Until now. And it is that just yesterday we were in a new news conference with José Miguel Aparicio, Director of Audi Spain, and Adam Baker, CEO of Audi Formula Racing GmbH and Project Director for Formula 1. Baker has chosen Madrid for his first worldwide intervention in front of the media. And there we were.
Audi and its long history in competition
Audi's history in the world of competition is very long. So much so that we have to go back to the 30 years of the last century, when Auto Union he was beginning to stand out in car racing with the Silver Arrows, winning twice in that decade.
Later came the mythical four-wheel drive, presented at the 1980 Geneva Motor Show and which would sweep the world rally with those brutal Group B. No less important are the successes achieved in the prestigious DTM or in the World Endurance Championship, with wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and having the honor of being the first to achieve it with a diesel engine in 2006 and with a hybrid mechanic in 2012. That's nothing.
Formula 1 will arrive in 2026, but Audi has been doing its homework for years. In fact, they have competed in the Formula E from 2016 to 2021. We do not forget either that at the Dakar 2022 the Audi RS Q e-tron has debuted, Carlos Sainz being the first driver to win a stage with a hybrid car in the general classification.
Adam Baker, the head of the Audi F1 project
After this brief review of Audi's exploits in competition, we are now going to talk about the Audi F1 project Properly said. The brand took a model to the presentation, but logically it will not be the vehicle that it will start testing in 2025 and will run in 2026.
Adam Baker was willing to talk about all the topics he could touch, avoiding answering questions that could compromise the project, as is logical. First of all, the Project Director is an Australian mechanical engineer who has been living from circuit to circuit for a couple of decades. It's more, he has even been on the FIA safety team for F1, in addition to going through several teams such as Jordan, Minardi or BMW.
He told us that the F1 is the ideal place to both collect experience and bring it to future road Audis., as to be seen all over the world at the marketing level. In that sense, now Formula 1 has more than 20 races for very important markets for the German company, which allows them to generate great visibility.
The project is already being forged in neuburg, very close to the Audi AG headquarters in Ingolstadt. They have started with about 130 workers, but they estimate that the development team will be complete with more than 300 people.
When will Audi's victories in F1 come?
Baker acknowledges that the project is complicated, that it is not easy to win in Formula 1. However, as in 2026 there is a strong change in regulations of this competition and thanks to the fact that they have enough time to spare, they believe that they will not have more difficulties than other teams with more years of experience.
That yes, after asking him about the objectives of victories, he answers that the intention is to be winning races in the third year. In any case, and knowing Audi, it would not be surprising if they gave the bell and started giving a lot of war very soon. Time will tell.
What we know absolutely nothing about is the pilots. logically the driver market in F1 moves a lot season after season, although I'm sure Audi He already has plans in mind. Whether it's a young driver program, looking for veteran drivers with a lot of experience for vehicle development, or both.
