Cadillac and Audi enter Formula 1: two teams with the same ambition but two very different projects

Audi team principal Jonathan Wheatley, who joined from his previous role as sporting director at Red Bull last March, said at the team’s launch this year: “We’re not here to mess around. It’s an ambitious project. We’re humble. We know where we’re starting and we know where we want to go.”

“We want to make Audi the most successful Formula 1 team in history. There are milestones on that journey and we are starting them today.”

No pressure then.

Audi won the 24 Hours of Le Mans 13 times in 18 years from 1999 to 2016. In rallying, it was best known for introducing all-wheel drive with the famous Quattro in the early 1980s.

They may not have been involved in Formula 1 before, but they competed in its predecessor, the European Grand Prix Championship, in the 1930s.

In a battle with arch-rivals Mercedes, Otto Union won the title with the great Bernd Rosemeyer in 1936, winning five races to Mercedes’ seven in 1937, while the legendary Tazio Nuvolari won races for them in 1938 and 1939 before World War II brought racing to a halt.

Audi’s entry this year revives the old rivalry with Mercedes, and the battle lines have already been drawn in a pre-season row over the rules governing engines’ compression ratio. Audi was reportedly among those who pushed for the rule change due to fear that Mercedes had found a way to exploit a loophole to their advantage.

Although competitors are on the right track with Mercedes, Audi is unlikely to stay for a while.

While Mercedes starts the season as championship favourites, Audi has a lot of work to do to turn Sauber into a winning proposition.

After announcing Audi’s joining in August 2022, the first steps of the program did not bode well. Audi hasn’t invested anywhere near enough money anytime soon enough.

Sauber did not make any progress until 2023 and the following year. Heading into 2026, Audi has sacked CEO Andreas Seidl, who left his previous role as McLaren team principal to join them, in mid-2024.

He was replaced by a dual management team comprising former Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto, who was put in charge of running the plants – Henwell in Switzerland for Sauber, and Neuberg in Germany for the engine programme – and Wheatley in charge of the track.

Even then, the administrative changes have not been finalized. Binotto initially joined as Chief Operating and Technology Officer. Less than a year later, he was appointed head of the Audi F1 project, and CEO Adam Becker left the company.

The appointments of Binotto and Wheatley had a relatively quick impact, with Sauber finally starting to move forward in 2025.

Stranded at the back, Sauber’s performance has become more respectable, with their veteran German driver Nico Hulkenberg finally managing to take a podium finish after 16 years of trying at last year’s British Grand Prix.

This year, the driver line-up of Hulkenberg and Brazilian Gabriel Bortoletto continues, heading into his second season, and the new Audi engine makes its debut.

So far the team has made a promising start.

They ran their car in early January, were the first team to do so under this year’s new rules, and introduced its first aerodynamic update in final pre-season testing in Bahrain last week.

In terms of speed, Audi is thought to be in the midfield mix with Haas, Alpine and Racing Bulls, and ahead of Williams. It’s been a solid effort so far, although Hulkenberg isn’t exaggerating.

“It’s just speculation so far,” the German said last week. “We don’t really know until Melbourne and even some of the races, because I feel at the moment the track can completely depend on how you feel on different tracks.

“So we’ll have to wait and see until everyone pulls down their gear for the qualifiers and we’ll find out. Early days. Hopefully we’ll be competitive somewhere in the midfield now.

“But, yes, the team has been working hard over the winter, pushing all areas, doing the power unit aspect for the first time. It’s been busy and challenging, and I think we’re okay. But there’s still a lot of work and a lot of room for improvement in that aspect and a lot to come.”