Earlier this week Audi announced the departure of Andreas Seidl, CEO of the Audi F1 project together with a corporate executive parachuted into the setup last season. TJ13 reported last week there had been in fighting between the pair, with the ex-McLaren F1 boss frustrated by interference.

Mattia Binotto is set to be the new head honcho at the team, although his title at present is vague and reports from Germany suggest Audi are targeting Aston Martin’s Mike Krack for the role of team principal.

Of course Nico Hulkenberg was recruited to the Audi project earlier this year by Seidl and Oliver Hoffman who have now both left the organisation. The German driver now admits the restructure at Audi was “unexpected.”

 

 

 

 

Hulkenberg admits Audi sackings “unexpected”

Speaking to assembled reporters at the Belgium Grand Prix media day, Hulkenberg is candid: “Well, of course, they were influential, these were the two guys we did the deal with,” he said.

“So that’s that, kind of an unexpected change. But I was informed, the day of the announcement about the [Audi] group’s decision by Gernot Donner himself. It’s the group’s decision that they want to change moving forward.”

The German driver and Audi have found a natural home together with the team optic for an experienced driver whose results this season for Haas have been exceptional. Nico has out qualified his team mate Kevin Magnussen 10-3 and sits just 2 points behind Lance Stroll who is tenth in the drivers’ title race.

Having been dropped from F1 for three full seasons, Audi offering Hulkenberg a multi-year deal expected to run to the end of 2027 is a more attractive option for the German than the uncertainty of one year deals elsewhere on the grid. 

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Binotto set a huge task

This of course is a trade off given at present Sauber/Audi are pointless at the bottom of the F1 championship and it may take until 2027 for their integration to be fully operational said technical director James Key earlier this season.

Nico understands the nature of Audi’s plans and says: “I think big projects like this, you have in the management, people that are big pillars of such projects, but they never just rely on one or two persons. And in Formula 1everyone is kind of changeable.

“And in terms of Mattia, I know him, obviously, from the past from the paddock, but I’ve never worked with him. But that will change in a few months.”

Binotto is due to start next week with the team and his previous connections with Carlos Sainz have started the rumour mill that it could be Mattia who finally persuades the Spaniard to join the project.

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Sainz close to ex-Ferrari boss

“Grazie Mattia,” Carlos Sainz posted on social media when the sacking of Binotto from Ferrari was announced in December of 2022., “It’s been a pleasure to work alongside you to push the team and ourselves forward through thick and thin. 

“Thanks for the great memories and moments we shared in and out of a racing track and all the best in your future endeavours,” Sainz concluded.

When asked whether yet another Audi F1 reorganisation was creating instability for the team, Hulkenberg was dismissive: “No, not concerned,” he said. 

“That was obviously a bit of a wave, a bit of a shock. But now, obviously, it’s back to business. And I still look forward to join that project, and to, make it a successful story with or without the fact that, you know, two people that were closely involved signing me are not there anymore.

“Of course, maybe it’s a bit sad, but, I’m more interested about the project, joining Formula 1 with Audi and making it a successful story,” Hulkenberg remarked. 

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Audi F1 integration sloppy so far

In conclusion Nico believes the fact that he was called by the CEO from the Audi main board means the project is in good hands. “I think it shows that, you know, the CEO of Audi and everyone is looking there, seeing where they are involved, the fact that they take action means that they’re very much involved and invested in it and hands on,” he concluded. “And that’s, I think, good and positive news.”

Yet Audi must be careful not to make the same mistakes as other global automotive brands like Renault, Honda and Jaguar with Ford. These teams all suffered day to day scrutiny from the main corporate boards which slowed their ability to innovate as quickly as their competitors.

The road to Sauber becoming team Audi F1 has been a rocky one and as TJ13 reported earlier today, the team had run out of money and so were forced to retain Zhou Guangyu for this season, because Audi had not funded them properly.

Audi’s hand was then forced and they completed the 100% share buyout of the team a year earlier than planned. With just 18 months before the first Audi F1 car hits the track in anger, there’s much to do for the incoming Binotto who was reported last year to have suggested some of the Audi personnel he’d met were “clowns.”

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Binotto granted a concession

Its could be Audi have relented on Binotto’s previous demands for autonomy from the main board in Germany, and if so the ex-Ferrari boss will be free from some of the constraints he faced in when in Maranello.

F1 reporter Lawrence Barretto now writes: “Discussions between Audi and Binotto have been going on for some time now with the Italian – who spent 27 years with Ferrari – keen to find a path back to Formula 1 as he had unfinished business.

“After taking some time out he embarked on a role with Italian automotive company TEXA – however, he kept his eye on F1 and sources say he had talks with Aston Martin, and Alpine, as well as Audi.

“Ultimately, the German manufacturer’s foray into F1 proved to be exactly the project he wanted – something he could build up from scratch using his near three decades of experience at Ferrari, which included having great success heading the engine department.”

Binotto had been previously linked with Alpine and Aston Martin, though he would have had concerns over the stability and financing of the French owned team, and Aston Martin have fallen away form the promise they showed early in 2023.

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FIA rookie F1 driver Sprints considered

There were concerns early this season that Formula One was in fact slitting into two divisions with the top five teams in Red all, McLaren, Mercedes Ferrari and Aston Martin locking out the rest from scoring points by finishing in the top ten.

The teams were told at the F1 commission meeting in April to go away and consider an expanded points system awarding a score to drivers finishing in the top twelve race classification positions. Following the most recent meeting in London this week, the F1 commission has announced it was decided to scrap the new proposals “unanimously.”

Other motor racing series award points to more than half the field and it has been a bone of contention for some time the lack of opportunity for the lesser teams to score in F1. Stake Sauber are the only team yet to get off the mark this year but the constructors’ table now looks less like two separate divisions of competitors with Haas F1 and RB often out qualifying and out scoring Aston Martin more frequently… READ MORE