2023-12-14 08:42:00
(Motorsport-Total.com) – What was already hinted at a week ago is now a certainty: Audi will enter Formula 1 for the 2026 season as planned. At least this is what the new brand CEO Gernot Döllner is now admitting to, after months of speculation during his period of silence.
With his interview, Gernot Döllner finally makes things clear at Audi
“There is a clear decision from the board of directors, from the supervisory boards of Audi and Volkswagen, that Audi will enter Formula 1 in 2026. The plan is in place,” confirms Döllner, Audi’s CEO since September 1, in his first major Interview since taking office with the Handelsblatt.
There had recently been speculation for months that Audi might back out and not enter Formula 1 after all. Because the entry was ultimately pushed through by Döllner’s predecessor Markus Duesmann, with a board of directors divided on the issue. When the end of June was gone, questions suddenly arose.
And they couldn’t be answered at first. Because Döllner adhered to the company’s directive that a new CEO not make any public statements in the first 100 days of his term in office, so speculation that Audi might back down went unchallenged.
Why the 100 days were a problem for Sauber-Audi
Incidentally, for the sake of completeness, these were not launched primarily by imaginative media representatives. Rather, it was sources from the Volkswagen and Audi environment who raised the mood against entry into Formula 1. Presumably from the camp that was already against Formula 1 during Duesmann’s time and now saw the opportunity to prevent entry.
This created an information vacuum that was ultimately counterproductive for the Audi Formula 1 project. Because of the question marks in the room, it was almost impossible for Andreas Seidl to convince qualified staff to come to Switzerland or Germany. Some were afraid of signing with an Audi factory team and then ultimately ending up with a chronically underfunded private Sauber team.
The project also missed the chance to poach one of the two Ferrari drivers, Charles Leclerc or Carlos Sainz. Both were toying with the idea of leaving Ferrari in the summer and Audi might have been an alternative for them. But Ferrari has improved since then, a question mark hung over Audi for months, and a possible change is no longer an issue.
The Döllner embargo ended on December 9th, last Saturday. Industry experts were therefore already expecting that Döllner would comment on the future of the Formula 1 program this week, after positive reports about management meetings had already been highlighted in the first media reports last week.
Formula 1 fits Döllner’s new strategy perfectly
It’s no secret that Audi continues to have difficulty selling cars (especially those with electric drives). However, Döllner is planning a change in strategy, which will also involve targeting the North American market more closely than before. The market in which Formula 1 is currently booming like never before.
It also fits with the Formula 1 program that Audi wants to continue to define itself through the slogan “Vorsprung durch Technik”. Döllner says: “We talked very intensively on the board about the brand image and worked on it. At the core of the brand, projection through technology remains, but with a broader understanding.”
Those in Hinwil and Neuburg who are already working on developing the Formula 1 project should be relieved by the Döllner interview. Issues such as personnel acquisition should become much easier now that there are no longer any question marks as to whether Audi is really coming or not.
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