Is Formula 1 poised for a copy of motorsport's most famous grudge match?

Prepare to stand down, Le Mans ’66. You’ve served motorsport wonderfully well for nearly 60 years, inspired some of the most beautiful cars ever built and even managed to break into the mainstream with a Hollywood blockbuster. But your time as the ultimate racing revenge story could be under threat. For, much like Henry Ford II, it seems as though Audi has not taken too kindly to having its offer to buy a sportscar manufacturer rejected.

The pandemic pushed McLaren too close to the brink. In 2020, it took out a £150million loan with the National Bank of Bahrain, offered its Norman Foster-designed Technology Centre for sale, made 1200 people redundant and sold a £185m stake in the Formula 1 team to US consortium MSP Sport Capital. As for the Automotive arm, it was forced to delay the launch of its critical Artura hybrid road car owing to development drama and a chip shortage.

During that period of uncertainty, various lockdowns had families welded to their sofas and consuming Drive to Survive on repeat. F1 was booming while the Volkswagen Group was sat at the table when it came to devising the 2026 engine regulations. With the takeover of a financially struggling existing franchise seen as the path of least resistance, Audi strongly evaluated purchasing McLaren. Racing boss Zak Brown admitted to “conversations” with the German giant but a capacity to find alternative sources of cash and the risk of the McLaren name disappearing from the grand prix grid altogether left Woking stakeholders to tell the Ingolstadt investors where to go.

Some of the actions since suggest Audi wasn’t best pleased with not getting its own way. As sister firm Porsche similarly failed to wed itself to Red Bull, the company top brass held a press conference at the 2022 Belgian Grand Prix to officially confirm the start of its works engine programme. Then, in late October, one of many poorly kept paddock secrets from this year was confirmed as the chassis partnership with Sauber finally went public. Far more surprising was the announcement earlier this month that Andreas Seidl will return to Hinwil as Sauber Group CEO.

Despite the German having worked for the Swiss setup during its BMW era and being extremely well known to the VW Group for leading the Porsche 919 LMP1 project, which won the World Endurance Championship three times and chalked up a hat-trick of Le Mans victories, this was not a widely expected move.

Seidl's switch to Sauber, ahead of its Audi takeover, triggered a new dynamic to the McLaren-Audi rivalry

Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images

The ever-calm, bespectacled McLaren team principal had been hired by Brown in 2019 to lead the restructure that allowed the outfit to rise from sixth in the constructors’ championship to as high as third. A decline to fifth this year was not a sign of Seidl’s effectiveness waning, more an exposure of the limitations of the team’s simulator and windtunnel. But it was the compelling case that he made to the McLaren boardroom that will result in the new, state-of-the-art infrastructure coming into use for 2024 and beyond.

That Audi has been able to convince Seidl to hang up his papaya polo shirt marks a coup for its fledgling F1 project and nothing but a blow to McLaren. Brown has made a compelling case for why new team principal Andrea Stella is every bit the equal of his predecessor. So much so that Seidl’s exit was brought forward to allow Fernando Alonso’s former race engineer to take the helm. However, it is right to hold some reservations given that Stella will maintain the course. That he won’t tear up Seidl’s plan reinforces how good an operator McLaren has lost, and how good a one Audi has gained. While it is almost certain that there are one or two areas Stella believes he can improve upon, McLaren has nevertheless lost the original architect of its masterplan to return to greatness.

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And Seidl wasn’t just responsible for convincing the powers that be to improve the facilities. It was his call to flick Daniel Ricciardo after a poor first two seasons at McLaren, even though the Australian had a year remaining on his contract. It was Seidl who was convinced enough by Oscar Piastri’s personality and FIA F2 and F3 titles to see him as a perfect fit and worthy of being prised away from Alpine for 2023. While getting rid of Ricciardo is understandable given the gulf to his team-mate, McLaren will still feel the effects of Seidl’s tenure long after he has gone.

If Norris does go, he will move to an operation that is being led by Seidl, the person who sold him the dream once before and is eminently capable of doing it again

Then there is the driver of the other car: Lando Norris. The Briton is in the top echelon of current F1 proponents. He was the only non-Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull pilot to chalk up a podium all campaign, which he did with a phenomenal performance at Imola. His consistently very high bar came despite a protracted battle to get to grips with the change of driving style dictated by the switch to ground-effects – something only exacerbated by the heavy MCL36.

Norris readily admits he has played the political game by deliberately maintaining sound relationships with all team bosses in case he should ever want to move on from the squad that gave him his F1 debut. But it was Seidl who ultimately convinced the 23-year-old to sign a long-term contract that will, in principle, keep him at McLaren until the end of the 2025 season.

Norris remains McLaren's superstar, but will his patience run out on the team fighting for wins and titles?

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

However, Norris is also aware of the fact that his contemporaries and pals Carlos Sainz, Charles Leclerc, Max Verstappen and George Russell have all now won at least one grand prix. He’s watched them manoeuvre themselves into more competitive seats and been leapfrogged in the process. Norris has the talent to match any one of them, and he knows that. He is also acutely aware that despite his relative youth, a topflight career is a short one. Should the new windtunnel not propel McLaren to the front in 2024, he is in no doubt about what must be done to land the race victories and potential world titles he craves.

If his head can be turned when that contract expires (assuming Norris isn’t poached before then: he would be a fine replacement for Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes should the seven-time champion retire, or a fearsome successor to Sergio Perez at Red Bull...), then why not go to Audi?

Sure, it would be a massive risk to commit to such a young programme. But if McLaren isn’t fighting for wins, then perhaps it’s only a case of jumping from frying pan to fire, but for a few more million quid per year. And if Norris does go, he will move to an operation that is being led by Seidl, the person who sold him the dream once before and is eminently capable of doing it again. Plus, in lieu of a German superstar talent, Norris would make for a fine statement signing for Audi’s F1 arrival.

If that were to come to fruition, and Audi plausibly turns up to 2026 pre-season testing with Seidl at the top and Norris zipping up a set of overalls emblazoned with four interlocking rings, it would mark a serious case of payback for that time when McLaren wouldn’t sell up.

All eyes will be on Audi when it makes its F1 bow in 2026

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images