Audi team officially announced that Sauber team will be the battle partner of Audi to return to F1 and plans to acquire team shares. Starting from 2026, the team will use Audi's power units as the factory team to participate in F1 competitions.
power unit will be designed and manufactured in the racing technology center in Germany. The Sauber team will continue to develop and upgrade the racing car at the Swiss headquarters. The Sauber will also be responsible for the team's race planning and specific operations.
is expected to return to Sauber team in 2024 and 2025, and will continue to use the power unit of the Ferrari during the period of excessive use.
Audi has set up a Formula Racing Factory (Audi Formula Racing GmbH) in Neuburg, Germany. It currently has about 120 employees, and the expansion of personnel and related infrastructure will be basically completed in 2023.
"Sauber is a top-notch partner of Audi power units," said Adam Baker, general manager of Audi Technology Center. “We look forward to working with an experienced team that Sauber has left its own glory in all eras of F1. We hope to write the next chapter together from 2026.”
When Audi announced in August that they would join F1 as an engine supplier in 2026, the Sauber team immediately became their most likely partner due to the comprehensive new rules that will be introduced in 2026, including a greater focus on electric energy and the use of 100% sustainable fuel.
1 Once Audi signs the new rules for F1, negotiations on cooperation with Sauber will accelerate. Now, before the Mexican Grand Prix, the deal between Audi and Sauber has been completed, and Audi will also acquire a stake in the Sauber team, but the details are still being polished.
Audi discussed cooperation matters with several F1 teams such as McLaren , Williams , Sauber, etc. The Sauber team quickly became the first choice, with a rich history of motorsports. In 1993, Peter Sauber raised the banner in F1 motorsports and owned the best technology and equipment in F1.
With the support of team owner Finn Rausing, team leader Fred Vasseur has sufficient funds to get the factory to the latest level, thus giving them the software and hardware conditions to compete in the paddock.
Sauber team has a state-of-the-art wind tunnel, and Audi knows this wind tunnel well, because Audi has rented it for various projects in the past, including the WRC World Endurance Championship that Audi participated in. In addition to this, Sauber Team also has a high-quality simulator.
Audi's addition is actually like a project delivery, where Audi can take their power units directly into the Sauber team's base camp, such a merger model can minimize the management risks of new teams.
Wassel has good results in motorsports and was very successful in team management work in Formula Elementary before entering F1. And the Sauber team has long proved that they can cooperate with manufacturers. In early 2000, Sauber briefly became the factory team of BMW . From the perspective of operational results, BMW is the best among the Sauber team's partners.
Audi's decision-making is also very smart, both sides take advantage of their strengths, Sauber will operate a fleet in the paddock and Swiss headquarters and develop a chassis. Now the two sides have reached a cooperation early in 2022, which gives both sides enough time to learn how to cooperate and optimize working methods, which will help Sauber's bottom-level research and development and Audi's power unit research and development to achieve seamless street connection. So far, they are moving forward together in their respective duties.
