Audi believes it will be competitive in F1: 'We've been at it for a while'

Audi has made a conscious decision to develop its own engine for 2026 and has already worked hard behind the scenes to be competitive at its entrance. However, the German brand is realistic and aims for a competitive package in three years' time.

Audi already has a team in place

On Friday morning in Belgium, Audi Sport announced that it will enter Formula 1 as an engine supplier in 2026. The German brand has been linked to a future in F1 for some time now and this is evident from the preliminary work that has already been done. A team appears to be ready and waiting in the existing motorsport facilities in Germany.

At the press conference, however, Markus Duesmann let it be known that there is still a lot of work to be done. The motorsport factories in Neuburg and Donau, which are close to Audi's headquarters in Ingolstadt, are not yet at F1 level at the moment. ''We have to bring them to F1 standards, that takes a long time and it's already ongoing. We have a fantastic team of people there. But we also have to hire new people which takes some time.''

No lagging behind F1 competitors

Adam Baker has been put forward as the CEO of Audi's F1 project. He has previously worked for three years at the FIA and will play an important role in the future of the team. Audi is now looking at further reinforcements, but it does not want to say anything about the numbers.

It says it will not lag behind the competition because of the budget cap. ''All teams and engine suppliers will have the same number of engineers in 2026 because of the budget cap,'' concludes Oliver Hoffmann, member of the Board of Directors for Technical Development at Audi Sport.