Last Updated on January 18 2025, 12:25 pm

The German car brand Audi is inching ever closer to its debut in Formula One. Having signed up to the 2026 new power unit regulations Audi are morphing from the struggling back of the field Sauber into what many hope will be a team capable of challenging for honours within the sport.

The original intention was for Audi to purchase just 75% of the Swiss based team but this week the German automaker confirms it has completed as planned the final acquisition of shares.

However, the division of the VAG group’s plans changed towards the end of 2024 as they sold an estimated 30% of the Audi/Sauber team to the Qatari wealth fund who have big F1 ambitions. RSE ventures attempted to buy a stake in Formula One when CVC partners and Bernie Ecclestone was at the helm yet the final deal was done with US based Liberty Media shutting out the middle eastern investors.

 

 

 

Audi confirm final takeover of Sauber

Whilst the price Audi have paid for Sauber is believed to be in the region of $600m a statement now confirms the takeover of the Swiss based team was completed as planned in January 2025. “Audi now is the 100 per cent owner of Sauber Holding AG, the mother company of the team,” it read.

With Zhou Guangu and Valtteri Bottas released from Kick Sauber at the end of last season, the team will field a completely new driver lineup in German born Nico Hulkenberg and rookie Gabriel Bortoleto, who was the newly crowned F2 champion, for F1 2025.

There has been turmoil at the top of the Audi F1 project with head honcho Andreas Stella replaced during last year by the ex-Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto. The team announced the had captured the signature of Red Bull’s sporting director Jonathan Wheatley in the autumn to fulfil the role of team principal but now it appears they have secured his early release for April this year following Red Bull agreeing to shorten his garden leave. Reports of Wheatley’s early release emerged just hours after the team announced the departure of their ‘team representative’ Alumni Bravi who had served as de facto team boss since the departure of Fred Vasseur to Ferrari in 2022.

Saudi’s head F honcho paid tribute to the work achieved by Bravi saying: “Having worked closely with him in the months since my arrival to Hinwil, I want to pay tribute to Alessandro, a true team player who came to embody the essence of Sauber throughout the years.

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Team boss leaves Sauber

“Alessandro played a wide range of roles within the team, steering it through difficult and exciting times alike. As he moves onto a new venture, the whole company would like to thank him for all his energy and contributions over the years and wish him the best for the future.”

Alunni Bravi commented: “It is an emotional time as my journey with Sauber reaches its end. Since I joined in 2017, I have seen this team grow and change beyond what anyone could have imagined.

“This organisation went through exciting and difficult times alike, all without ever losing its spirit and its commitment, which is something I find inspiring, and I was proud of being able to represent the team as its public face in the last two years.

“As I move on to a new project, I want to thank Finn Rausing, all those who put so much trust and faith in me at Sauber and Audi, and all the colleagues I have been working with for the last eight years.

“This team is a family and has a bright future ahead.”

Stroll courts sponsors with Verstappen….

 

 

 

Sauber chassis design concerns

Meanwhile concerns continue over the development of the Audi F1 project as the team were bottom of the pile last year, scoring just four points, ironically at the penultimate round of the season in Qatar. Outgoing driver Valtteri Bottas appeared gloomy over the progress telling Sky Deutschland, “My biggest concern is the chassis. It will not be manufactured by Audi, but will continue to be manufactured by Sauber. The chassis side definitely needs to be improved.”

Bottas concluded: “It has been a difficult start for the brand so far.” Yet the latest update from Binotto is more upbeat but realistic as he explained, “There is much less production and technical capacity, a very outdated simulator and also around 400 fewer people than at a top team,” said the Italian.

The reality of the past decade for Sauber is that “this team has only survived for the past ten years. It has been in survival mode, making the best of the situation,” suggested the ex-Ferrari boss. He now set a new timeline for Audi’s success in F1 stating they will “be successful by 2030” in Formula 1.”

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Questions over Bortoleto

There have been questions raised about Audi/Sauber’s recruitment for 2025 with outspoken Canadian 1997 champion Jacques Villeneuve telling Actoion Network, “I’ve No idea what to expect out of Bortoleto. No idea. Formula 2 has never been a good judge of drivers.”

Bortoleto is the first winner of the F2 championship to receive an immediate promotion to F1 since Oscar Piastri back in 2021. Sauber’s other drive, Nico Hulkenberg is the sixteenth most experienced F1 driver of all time with his 227 Grand Prix. Yet the likeable German has the dubious record of being the driver with the most GP starts, never to have made the podium.

In the history of Formula One, 80 drivers have completed more than 100 race starts and Hulkenberg is one of only four drivers to do so and never achieve a podium finish. The others in the notorious club are Philippe Alliot, Pierluigi Martini and Adrian Sutil.

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Big update on latest in Michael Schumacher trial

Witness reveals Schumacher hard drive offer in blackmail trial – The trial into the attempted blackmail of Michael Schumacher’s family took an unexpected turn when a key witness testified that he had been offered a hard drive containing private recordings of the former Formula One driver’s life.

The high-profile case underlines the challenges facing the Schumacher family as they continue to shield the racing legend from public scrutiny following his life-changing skiing accident in 2013.

In the latest hearing at the Wuppertal District Court, a 42-year-old former bouncer took the stand, claiming he was approached with an offer to buy a hard drive filled with private photos and videos of Michael Schumacher. The price offered?…. READ MORE