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Audi has officially announced its intentions to take over 100 percent holding of the Sauber Group, whilst also revealing some management structure changes.
Despite much speculation on Thursday ahead of the announcement, Audi has officially confirmed its commitment to Formula 1. The German manufacturer will start its Formula 1 journey in 2026 – the year that the new engine regulations wll be introduced.
Audi to take 100 percent stake in Sauber
The German manufacturer announced a partnership deal with Sauber back in 2022. A minority stake was also invested in early 2023.
Audi had a plan of increasing its stake in Sauber to 75 percent by the end of 2025. However, now 100 percent has been invested into the Sauber Group and of Sauber Holding AG. An agreement has been made with the current majority shareholders Islero Investments AG.
Members of the supervisory boards of Audi and Volkswagen have given the green light. Oliver Hoffmann will step down from Audi’s board of management, becoming the Audi Formula 1 team’s general representative. Hoffmann will be responsible for implementing Audi’s entry into Formula 1.
Hoffmann will have a big responsibility for Audi’s entry – the stake in Sabuer, the development of Audi’s power unit, as well as the leadership and direction of the Formula 1 team.
Audi CEO Gernot Dollner will now be in charge of the Technical Development division, along with his existing responsbilities. His focus will be to develop more efficient strucutresand shortening development times.
Seidl’s thoughts
Former McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl has been appointed as the Audi Formula 1 team CEO, being the main face of the operation.
The German boss left McLaren at the end of the 2022 season, joining the Sauber Group in 2023. Seidl is currently the CEO of Sauber Motorsport, starting the role in January 2023. However, the 48-year-old left McLaren in favour for the project at Audi.
Seidl was asked for his thoughts on the recent news with Audi and the structural changes:
“I thank Gernot Dollner and Oliver Hoffmann for their trust and am looking forward to leading Audi into Formula 1 together with a highly motivated team as CEO of the Audi F1 Team.
“We have a clear roadmap for how we want to become competitive in Hinwil as well as in Neuburg. We have ambitious goals.
“Realisation of them is in progress and will be further accelerated through the complete takeover of Sauber by AUDI AG.”
However, the team will still have this season and next season before the introduction of Audi. Despite this, the team will be motivated to prepare fully ahead of 2026.
“The entry into Formula 1 is not only the pinnacle of Audi’s very successful history in motorsport, but also as big a sporting challenge as it is a financial commitment.
“Through the bundling of Oliver Hoffmann’s responsibilities and the complete takeover of the Sauber Group, we are accelerating our preparations for the 2026 season.”
Feature Image Credit: @Formula_Nerds on X