By Alan Baldwin
LONDON (Reuters) – Sauber’s transformation into the Audi works Formula One team from 2026, announced on Wednesday, is a big step up for the Swiss-based outfit who now have a real possibility of returning to the top of the podium.
The move from midfield to major players will still take time, however.
In a sport where cost caps control spending to make a more level playing field, Audi can only throw so much money at their team to beat the top trio of Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes on the racetrack.
They may have to play a longer game as they build to fighting fitness at a time when other manufacturers — Renault, McLaren and Aston Martin — are doing the same.
Sauber are outliers, with their factory at Hinwil boasting an enviable wind tunnel but far from England’s ‘Motorsport Valley’ where seven of the 10 teams reside along with much of the sport’s engineering expertise.
Audi will build the engines in Bavaria and that is familiar territory for Sauber, who entered Formula One in 1993 and whose last stint as a proper works team was with BMW between 2006-2010.
They finished championship runners-up in 2007, thanks to McLaren being stripped of all their points for a spying scandal involving Ferrari data, and were third overall in 2008.
BMW-Sauber also enjoyed a one-two win in Canada in 2008 with Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld before the project soured and BMW departed.
After a battle for survival, Sauber were saved with Swedish money and have more recently competed with Ferrari engines as Alfa Romeo in what amounts to a title sponsorship with the Italian Stellantis-owned brand.
“The partnership between Audi AG and Sauber Motorsport is a key step for our team as we continue to make progress towards the front of the grid,” said Sauber Motorsport CEO and team principal Frederic Vasseur.
“To become Audi’s official works team is not only an honour and a great responsibility: it’s the best option for the future and we are fully confident we can help Audi achieve the objectives they have set for their journey in Formula One.”
The BMW years resonate in the new Audi partnership, with Audi’s current chairman Markus Duesmann working as head of Formula One powertrains at BMW in 2007.
Adam Baker, who is now chief executive of Audi’s Formula One project, was a race team engineer at BMW Sauber where in 2007 he also became head of the race and test team for the BMW F1 Powertrain.
Then, as now, Sauber offered the attractive prospect of a ready made team without the hassle and expense of starting from scratch.
If there is unfinished business for some, those in charge will need no reminding of what went wrong last time around and how to manage expectations for a marque with plenty of past success to build on.
Audi won the Le Mans 24 Hours endurance race 13 times before leaving in 2017 and the Volkswagen-owned brand has a grand prix pedigree dating back to the pre-World War Two period with predecessor Auto Union.
Formula One will have a new power unit from 2026, with the focus on sustainability and a more cost-efficient future, and that will help Audi get up to speed with other engine manufacturers.
Duesmann has said the plan is to be “very competitive” within three years of entry.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Christian Radnedge)
