Audi is going to be making an announcement related to its incoming F1 project later today. It has been teasing the announcement on its social media channels. This will happen at 3:30 pm India time.
Also Read: Audi Set To Enter Formula 1 As A Full Works Team From 2026
"The future is taking shape. Watch this space for more," echoes the announcement on Twitter on the Audi Sport profile. It shared an image of an F1 car, which is a representative image which leads one to believe it is related to F1.
Only last month, Audi announced its intent to join Formula 1. It registered as an F1 engine manufacturer, and its work on the 2026 engine formula has begun. It is widely believed that Audi will be acquiring a majority stake in the Sauber F1 team which is currently sponsored by Alfa Romeo. The team uses Ferrari engines as Ferrari and Alfa Romeo have close ties by virtue of the Agnelli family having a major stake in Alfa Romeo's parent company Stellantis, and Ferrari itself.
In fact, Ferrari used to be part of the erstwhile FCA of which Alfa Romeo was also a part of, but the Ferrari had an IPO and was spun off while FCA merged with the PSA group to form Stellantis.
With the ties of Alfa Romeo and Ferrari being more distant these days, the days of Alfa Romeo were numbered in F1 as it wasn’t an investor in the Sauber team, but just a title sponsor. Last year, Ferrari also relinquished its right to control a driver’s seat on the Alfa Romeo project which opened up the opportunity for Guanyu Zhou.
Last month, when Audi announced that it was entering F1, Alfa Romeo also announced that it would be ending its relationship with Sauber at the end of next year as its contract runs through. This is widely believed to be the opening for Audi to take over a majority stake in the Sauber operation where the race team will continue to use the cutting-edge facilities in Hinwil and the engine development will happen in Germany.
This announcement could be related to the Audi investment in Sauber. It could also be about a potential deal with its sister company Porsche, which was also slated to be entering F1 in 2026 with close ties with Red Bull. But the Red Bull talks collapsed and there are rumours that Porsche may acquire the Williams F1 team - or at least 50 per cent of it - which could also mean that they would replace Mercedes as its engine partner with Audi. Jost Capito, the CEO of Williams is a former Volkswagen group motorsports executive which could make things interesting.
