Audi’s long road back to the top of grand prix racing

Today, the Silver Arrows nickname is most closely linked to the oeuvre of Mercedes-Benz in Formula 1: its championship-winning spell in the mid-1950s, its time as McLaren’s works partner, and the modern-day efforts that culminated in seven drivers’ titles and eight constructors’ successes between 2014 and 2021.

Should 2026 continue in the same vein, then Mercedes may well end up with another brace of championship titles among its already-extensive list of honours.

In the 1930s, however, there were two manufacturers vying to become the definitive Silver Arrow, and the pair dominated grand prix racing before the Second World War broke out: Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union. Formed from a constellation of German automotive concerns, Auto Union absorbed the DKW, Horch, Wanderer and Audi brands in 1932, and began developing racing cars over 1933 for its full debut at grands prix in the following season.

For all of its successes, and its prescient adherence to the rear-wheel-drive, rear-engine format that didn’t become commonplace in F1 until the late-1950s, Auto Union – nor Audi, following its 1960s re-rebranding – had never trod the boards in Formula 1 racing.

Audi has attained myriad titles across endurance competition, plus 13 Le Mans 24 Hours wins, captured the hearts of rally enthusiasts with its Group B Quattro, and has raced in Formula E, DTM, and even at the Dakar Rally… but had never dared to venture to the top of the single-seater tree.

Seventy-six years into F1’s history, Audi finally arrived. Tempted to join the ranks by the 2026 powertrain regulations, Audi bought Sauber, developed its own power unit, and reinstated the two-prong Silver Arrows attack last seen in the 1930s. The team isn’t yet at the level to challenge Mercedes, granted, but the Swiss-German squad’s intent is obvious. Audi is in F1 to win.

Hermann Muller’s Auto Union is chased by Dick Seaman’s Mercedes, Donington 1938

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The prelude of management upheaval

When Audi made the decision to join F1 and agreed to purchase Sauber to guarantee itself an entry, it seemed like an incredibly astute decision. Let’s not forget that Michael Andretti had tried and failed to buy the Swiss team, with disagreements over the ownership structure, and the rising value of an F1 team had already inflated the price of an established outfit. Reports vary on the final sum, but it was believed to be in excess of €600million to transfer full control of the Hinwil outfit to Audi in early 2025.

This was a long time coming. Audi announced its F1 intentions in 2022, bought a minority stake in Sauber in 2023, but the brand was not necessarily keen to invest in the team until it had its own name above the door. At the same time, the key players in the Audi-to-F1 plan had dropped out one by one: former Audi AG CEO Markus Duesmann left in 2023, replaced by Gernot Dollner. Dollner, initially, was said to be sceptical of the F1 project, but was soon on board – and after a few months in charge, made the bold decision to let the other two architects of Audi’s incoming team go half-way through 2024.

The departure of Audi F1 CEO Andreas Seidl, and chairman of the board Oliver Hoffmann, was said to be the result of a power struggle between the two. Seidl, formerly of McLaren, was involved in setting up the F1 team, and Hoffmann the go-between for the F1 and the automotive brand, but the pair began to clash.

Audi’s 2026 chassis is said to be one of the better ones on the grid, at least the equal of the Racing Bulls car and potentially even stronger in some environments

Dollner felt that this was to the detriment of the F1 programme, and was worried by the apparent lack of harmony within the camp. He arranged for Mattia Binotto to take over the project as chief operating officer and chief technical officer. The dual role made sense; Binotto had been the team principal at Ferrari, and knew how a race-winning F1 team should operate, but he also had extensive experience in running the Prancing Horse’s engine department. Binotto was tasked with creating greater unity between the Sauber side in Hinwil and the Audi side in Neuburg, and signed off on the build of conference rooms in both facilities to create a permanent link between them.

By this time, Sauber was struggling. It was mired at the back of the 2024 grid, with no points and very few developments emerging from Hinwil. Audi didn’t want to put its money into what was effectively another team, and Sauber’s owners felt no reason to put money into an outfit they’d no longer own. It’s said that Binotto persuaded Dollner to push forward the full buyout, and that opening up funds for car development would offer the benefit of keeping its in-house tools and infrastructure up to date. Financial backing from Qatar’s state investment authority also helped to grease the wheels.

This helped 2024’s late-season resurgence at Sauber, its blushes spared when Zhou Guanyu secured eighth at the Qatar Grand Prix. It was also the reason for Sauber’s progress through 2025, later bequeathing Nico Hulkenberg’s first podium at Silverstone. As it happened, Audi’s 2026 chassis is said to be one of the better ones on the grid, at least the equal of the Racing Bulls car and potentially even stronger in some environments. Had Audi not put its money where its mouth was in 2024, the same might not have been said…

McNish, who has a long history with Audi, was brought on board by Binotto

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Audi’s first season so far

In its first year as a manufacturer, Audi is so far having the season you’d have expected. It’s true that Red Bull has confounded the expectations placed upon a new engine manufacturer by dramatically surpassing them, while Honda has fallen at the other end of that.

Audi is somewhere in the middle; the AFR 26 Hybrid engine is a competent first effort, but with scope for improvement. Much of that falls within the realms of out-and-out power but, in the first part of the year, driveability was also a concern. Audi was the first team to push through a development under the auspices of the Additional Developments and Upgrade Opportunities mechanic (ADUO) to improve the throttle response.

Starts have also been something of a bugbear and, while Ferrari’s small turbocharger is lauded as the reason for its rapid getaways at the beginning of the year, it has been suggested that Audi’s turbo might carry something of an inertia penalty. But the team is improving with software advances, and the loss of positions in the opening laps has not been quite as damaging to its race-day aspirations.

As mentioned, the chassis itself is strong. Gabriel Bortoleto has been very complimentary of the R26 package and reckons that – at some circuits – it could be a match for some of the top teams. The car seems to thrive when the tracks aren’t quite as rear-limited; when the rear tyres overheat, the car is particularly prone to sliding, especially at locations with stop-start corners.

At circuits like Barcelona and the Hungaroring, the Audi looked pretty handy, and it surprised itself with its showings at Spa and Silverstone. Low-speed performance has been steadily improving as the team explores ways to stop the car breaking traction.

Having moved ahead of Williams for eighth in the constructors’ championship, courtesy of Hulkenberg’s ninth-place finish in Hungary, Audi’s progress is looking slightly more tangible. This comes after a tough start to the year, one defined by startline issues, reliability problems, and the departure of its team principal after just a year in Switzerland.

Bortoleto’s eighth place at Spa was another boost for Audi’s 2026 points haul

Photo by: Mark Thompson / Getty Images

When Jonathan Wheatley joined the team in 2025, it wasn’t long before Sauber started to look like a well-drilled organisation once again. Wheatley had been a key component in Red Bull’s success, having overseen the work of the mechanics and technicians for 20 years, and holding the race day operations to a very high standard. He sought to preserve that standard upon his arrival at Hinwil; pitstops became quicker, strategy was more robust, and the team looked as though it was on the up under his tenure.

From the outside, then, it was surprising that he chose to leave his role on the eve of March’s Japanese GP, although neither Bortoleto nor Hulkenberg were – paraphrasing slightly – particularly taken aback by the news. Whatever the reason, Binotto filled the void on a temporary basis, and later promoted Allan McNish into the racing director role to oversee track day operations. The Scot, of course, won Le Mans twice with Audi, later becoming team principal of its Formula E team – so he was the sensible option to fill the role.

So, what’s next for 2026? McNish is probably best placed to answer that one…

“We’ve evolved in our performance this year so far, which has been definitely power-unit related as well, making sure that we try to maximise some of the systems on that,” he explained in Hungary, “and on the chassis with the upgrades [from Austria]. We will do [more] again in the second half of the year, but for the power unit – that’s a 2027 topic. It’s more hardware than anything, and that’s not a quick thing to change.

Audi has a perfect blend of youth and experience: Hulkenberg is 39, Bortoleto 21. They get on incredibly well, and complement each other. Hulkenberg’s wealth of been-there-done-that F1 know-how is a godsend to a team in Audi’s position

“I’m happy. We’ve evolved as a team a lot. Since I got directly involved, I can see a growth in the people, the confidence in the people. Hungary was quite a difficult race, but the way we executed it I thought was good. In terms of car performance, I think we’re better in qualifying than I expected. I didn’t think we would be quite so quick and consistently quick, and we are able to deal with that. We need to make a step forward again there. In terms of things that we’re not so happy about or things we can improve, definitely we need to work on the starts.

“But overall, we’ve got a lot we can improve, a lot, but we’ve now just jumped Williams in the constructors’ championship. We’ve consistently had Q3s, we’ve consistently had top 10s in the races and points, and I can see with the development we’re making as a team operationally and also technically that actually we’ll just get stronger.

“I suppose the biggest thing that I feel is comfort, more than confidence; comfort, that we’re just getting stronger on an upward trend at the moment. But just being totally honest, where we are is in the midfield and the gap to the top four teams is big. But considering we’ve done 11 races in our F1 career, then I think it’s actually quite a good position to be in.”

Bortoleto and Hulkenberg are the perfect blend of youth and experience

Photo by: Andy Hone/ LAT Images via Getty Images

Will Audi make a step into the driver market?

Right now, Audi has a perfect blend of youth and experience: Hulkenberg is 39, Bortoleto 21. They get on incredibly well, and complement each other. Hulkenberg’s wealth of been-there-done-that F1 know-how is a godsend to a team in Audi’s position, while Bortoleto’s youthful vigour is also tempered with immense natural ability and a sensible approach.

It would be strange, then, for Audi to break that up in its first season as a manufacturer entity. McNish was on the receiving end of that at Toyota in 2002, when he and Mika Salo were dispensed with after a test year and a full F1 season, so he may be of the opinion to advocate for the same line-up.

On the basis of 2026 so far, both of Audi’s current charges have been driving well. Luck has not necessarily been on Hulkenberg’s side, but McNish enthused about the German’s “fire” at the Hungarian GP after missing out on points in Monaco and Barcelona. Both are earning their keep and, crucially, both are invested in the Audi project.

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