Mark Gallagher has been a man in the Formula 1 paddock for a long time and well known. He is now an independent consultant and analyst, contributing to a range of publications, writing books on the economics of Formula 1 and having worked for teams such as Jordan, Jaguar and Red Bull Racing. His last position was that of commercial director of the Cosworth engine company.
Gallagher is well versed in both the economic laws of modern motorsport and the specifics of Formula 1 – from these positions he issued a warning to Audi, which is coming to the World Championship in 2026.
It will take another two and a half years and Audi is actively preparing: based on the company’s motorsport division in Neuburg, Germany, the tests of the future power plant are in full swing, but there are also some transformations from the Swiss company Sauber Motorsport behind the fencing takes place, whose team still plays in Formula 1 as Alfa Romeo.
It is logical to assume that Audi wants to achieve high-profile success, and not just be one of the participants in the World Cup, but Gallagher warned that this requires special efforts.
“I don’t want my words to shake anyone’s confidence, but I fully understand the difficulties Alfa Romeo/Sauber will face,” he said while taking part in the GP Racing podcast. – It is in the psychology of this team that they take positions in the middle of the pack and simply do not know how to get out of there. This manifests itself in many ways.
She does not even have ambitions to reach a higher level and the structure of the team from Hinwil cannot be called first-class. Hence the results, which are also far from first-class. In order for Audi to succeed in Formula 1, the entire organization must be completely restructured during the process of creating a factory team.
The year 2028 will come and by then Audi will have been in the championship for two years, but will not achieve anything. And then people from the board of directors of the Volkswagen concern will begin to bang their fists on the table and wonder: “What to do? Who else to call for help? What’s the secret to success?
Nevertheless, a good group of experienced specialists is gradually gathering in Hinville, who understand Formula 1 no worse than Gallagher and hardly need such warnings. In particular, Andreas Seidl, who previously led the McLaren team and now head of the Sauber Group, and James Key, who will take over as technical director of the Swiss team on September 1, cannot be blamed for a lack of competence.
Moreover, if Sauber was ever held back by a lack of funding, there certainly shouldn’t be such a problem with the arrival of Audi. Of course, we will return to this topic more than once, and Mark Gallagher made it clear that before 2028 it would make no sense to even summarize the preliminary results of this project.
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
