German carmaker Audi will make its Formula 1 debut in 2026 as an engine tester, CEO Markus Duesmann announced at a news conference in Spa-Francorchamps on the sidelines of the Belgian Grand Prix on Friday.
Audi will withdraw from its hybrid engine at Neuburg an der Donau in Bavaria, Germany, and will join forces with an F1 team "to be announced at the end of the year," Duesmann explained.
According to the specialized press, this alliance could be closed with Sauber, which currently competes as Alfa Romeo and has Ferrari engines. Audi joins Mercedes, Ferrari, Renault and Red Bull (with Honda technology) as an engine manufacturer.
This announcement comes ten days after the approval, by the FIA World Motor Sport Council, of a regulation on the new engines from 2026.
“It is a perfect moment with the new regulations: F1 changes in a way that we bequeathed, with a very important one of electricity” in the hybrid engine, developed Duesmann, present in Belgium together with Stefano Domenicali, boss of Formula 1, and Mohammed Ben Sulayem, president of the International Automobile Federation (FIA).
The engines, hybrids from 2014, will tend from 2026 to an increase in electrical energy and will use 100% sustainable fuels, a requirement for the German brand.
Audi, like the Volkswagen group as a whole, is committed to a shift towards electric technology, and wants to showcase F1's showcase of its greener progress and ambitions.
The possibility of setting up a team from scratch has been rejected and all because it indicates that, either through a collaboration or a purchase, Audi's most likely gateway to F1 would be that of the Swiss structure of Sauber, which currently runs as Alfa Romeo.
After Audi's announcement, Porsche should soon announce its entry into the elite of motorsport. As part of the brand lost to the Volkswagen group, Duesmann specified that there would be “completely different programs”, with the structure of Audi in Germany and the base performance of Porsche in the United Kingdom.
This precision opens the door to a possible collaboration between Porsche and Red Bull, through the purchase of 50% of the Austrian team.
