Audi to join Formula 1 in bid to catch up with Mercedes

Audi will join Formula 1 from 2026, Volkswagen’s premium marque has said, joining German rival Mercedes at the frontline of the rapidly growing motorsport.

“Formula 1 is both a global stage for our brand and a highly challenging development laboratory,” Audi boss Markus Duesmann said in a statement.

He added that the Ingolstadt-based brand had decided to join as an engine provider after new power unit regulations for Formula 1 were agreed this month that pave the way for next-generation engines powered by a mixture of batteries and biofuels.

Fellow Volkswagen brand Porsche said earlier this year it would also rejoin F1, although the brand has yet to make a formal announcement. Porsche chief Oliver Blume will take over as chief executive of Volkswagen Group at the start of September.

VW has watched from the sidelines as Mercedes, which fully rejoined the sport in 2010, has won eight successive constructors’ titles, gaining $1bn worth of branding value from its F1 team, according to calculations by the Stuttgart-based company.

Audi, which had been in talks with McLaren, said it “would not set up a complete new team” in F1, and would name its partner in a few weeks. The brand has also been in discussions with Sauber, currently racing in partnership with Alfa Romeo, according to people familiar with the matter.

F1 has enjoyed a resurgence under the ownership of Liberty Media, which acquired the global racing series in an $8bn deal in 2017. The US investment group rewrote the rules of the sport by convincing teams to agree to a budget cap and a series of changes designed to make racing more competitive and social-media friendly.

Another attraction for manufacturers and team owners is the sport’s expansion into the US on the back of the popularity of Drive to Survive, a behind-the-scenes documentary series that streams on Netflix. Having struggled to expand into the US for years, Liberty Media has added Miami to the F1 calendar and will add a grand prix in Las Vegas from 2023.

Duesmann, a former F1 engineer at BMW and Mercedes, declined to confirm how much Audi was spending on establishing an F1 unit in Neuburg an der Donau. But he told reporters at a press conference at the Spa track in Belgium that the brand, which has enjoyed success in Le Mans, did not need to make money from the venture.

He added that he hoped Audi would be able to be competitive “ideally within the first three years” after joining the sport.

F1 president and chief executive Stefano Domenicali, who once worked for Volkswagen, said Audi’s move marked “a major moment for our sport that highlights the huge strength we have as a global platform that continues to grow”.

F1 reported second-quarter revenues of $744mn, an increase of almost 50 per cent, after growth in race promotion fees, media rights and sponsorship. The group’s Paddock Club hospitality business also enjoyed a resurgence after being unable to operate in the corresponding three-month period last year because of the pandemic.