On October 17, Audi held a presentation of its Formula 1 program in Madrid – this is the first such event since the press conference in Spa, when it was officially confirmed that the German company will come to the World Championship in 2026.
The head of Audi’s Formula 1 program was appointed Australian Adam Baker, who once worked for Cosworth, then BMW Williams and BMW Sauber, before leading BMW Motorsport’s engine building division.
Baker has been with Audi since 2021 and during today’s presentation, he spoke about the challenges the Ingolstadt-based company has set itself: “We want to be competitive from the start, but we are realists. We expect to win in the third year, and if you compare us to other automakers, the difference is that they are now trying to adjust the balance of their costs.
They must combine while developing new models and adhering to financial constraints. And in our position until 2026, there may be certain advantages. But three years seems a realistic term.”
Baker stressed that the development of its own power plant is already underway, but still did not share details, in particular did not confirm that Audi will carry out its project together with Sauber.
“Formula 1 is undergoing a transformation,” he added. “We want to be part of this change and use F1 as a platform to showcase our technological capabilities. We are already making the engine.
We started this fairly recently and don’t plan to finish this project earlier than planned, so there’s no question about that. But we believe that changes in the technical regulations for power plants and chassis, which come into effect in 2026, will enable us to be competitive from the start.
We consider all possible alternatives. We are already working with one of the partners and will officially announce this by the end of the year.”
Of course Baker was asked which of the drivers could be invited to the Audi project, but he answered evasively: “It would be great if Carlos Sainz would work with us, he is very good, but 2026 is still a long way off. We understand that everyone is interested in the names of the riders, but it is still difficult to say how events will develop between today and 2026. But for such a project it is important to work together with experienced professionals.”
Source: F1 News
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