Last Updated on February 11 2024, 8:13 am

The new Formula One power units were intended to be introduced for the 2022 season, yet inertia from the FIA together with dithering from potential new manufacturers set the project back to 2026.

The great hope was that a number of new OEM’s would join the sport and for some time Porsche looked odds on for an F1 return. Yet as the dust settled just Audi were to sign on the dotted line with their plan to acquire Sauber.

 

 

 

Sauber forced to ‘sell their souls’

The Swiss team who were the object of Audi’s intentions are approaching their third decade in there sport, yet their history has been chequered having partnered with BMW to little effect and being reacquired by their founder.

Having sourced sponsorship from Alfa Romeo in 2019, F1 Sauber’s future became more certain and their spending pot increased by some margin. Yet the announcement of the Audi deal for 2026 sent the Italian car manufacturer running to the hills and bizarrely Sauber are now fending for themselves while Audi work out their plan for F1.

Audi meanwhile have dawdled along with their preparations to join F1 and Sauber having lost their title sponsor Alfa Romeo following the Audi announcement, have been left in some kind of limbo as the German investment trickles into the team.

Sauber have been forced to sell their souls to new sponsors to finance their F1 racing during the interim period before 2026 and now have registered the quite ridiculous name with the FIA for 2024 of Stake Sauber Kick F1 team.

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Sauber sensor deemed illegal

They now face another problem as they seek to fund the next two years before becoming the Audi works team. Stake, a gambling organisation, are not licensed in Switzerland and there prominent branding on the car livery revealed today has prompted action from the Federal Casino Commission, which has opened proceedings against Sauber, posing a risk of at least a significant fine.

Of course the team management is spinning this fiasco as a positive for Sauber with stand in principal stating: “This year, of course, for us it’s easier: we have a new and clear identity,”  said Alumni Bravi.

“We start here with an event that I think is a testament of what we want to do with a new motto for the team, ‘unleashed’, that for us means really the way we want to communicate, the way we want to be perceived.”

Does this imply their previous relationship with Alfa Romeo held them back? Or is it mere marketing speak to cover the lack of support they are receiving from Audi?

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Audi integration one year late

James Key, the teams technical director revealed shockingly that the timescale Audi envision to fully integrate with the team will now be beyond the new power unit regulations set for 2026.

“Ultimately, we’re probably not going to be the final [Audi] product that we’re aiming for until about ’27 time really, because there is a lot to do,” he revealed in January.

Such is the shambles of the Audi takeover, ex-Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas has been forced to comment on the the state of play as Audi plod along building their engine in Neuburg. When asked by PlanetF1 whether the Audi project was stalling Bottas insisted that it was just “rumours.”

“I think it’s just rumours,” said the Finn. “From what I understand and what I’ve heard, they’re still fully committed for the future.”

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Bottas struggles with party line

Hardly a vote of confidence. With Alfa Romeo withdrawing form their Sauber sponsorship it would be natural to expect that Audi would step up to the plate. Yet Bottas confirms this is not the case and the future is yet to be determined while Sauber at present are ploughing their furrow alone. He claims Audi are becoming incrementally involved.

“A little bit more now that Alfa Romeo brand is out,” Bottas said of Audi’s involvement. “I think the cooperation will start quite soon, I would imagine because Audi already wants to be competitive in their first year. We’ve got Sauber and now they will need to work together.

Clearly this is a different message from the one espoused by James Key who stated clearly he does not expect the Audi integration to be complete until the start of 2027.

Bottas claims ignorance of the state of affairs because, “that’s all going on behind the scenes. As a driver, whatever meetings and stuff is happening behind, we are not always aware of those things but things are starting to pick up now.”

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A shambles compared to Andretti

All this is in stark contrast to the FIA newly accepted Andretti F1 team who claim they are ready to race in F1 next season. Given the American outfit is a start up and Audi are merging with and existing long term F1 competitor this surely is an embarrassment for the hopeful German automotive brand.

Meanwhile the saga of the Sauber name for 2024 rolls on given Stake have already run into some problems with the gambling name being banned in certain countries. Yet interim ‘team representative’ Alessandro Alunni Bravi is confident they have a plan to get around that.“As you know, last year we alternated two different names according to the different countries where we go racing,” he said.

“We will be fully complying with all the local applicable laws and where Stake is prohibited, so gambling advertising is prohibited, we will use a different name. As last year, we have Kick as one of our most important partners – our chassis name is a Kick Sauber – so where we are not going to race as Stake F1 Team, we will use a second team name.”

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Sauber risk FIA sanction

There are strict rules set out by the FIA over the name of each F1 entrant and Sauber is flirting dangerously with the compliance of these regulations.

“The team’s name in Formula 1 depends on many different elements, including commercial partnerships. So our new team identity is not that we forget Sauber. We are the Sauber group, we are a solid group of people working together, but we present ourselves in the F1 community with a new team identity for the next two seasons,” Bravi desperately explains.

It could be the FIA rule the current name is not permitted meaning Sauber will be forced to drop the Stake team name and with it valuable sponsorship.

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