F1 2024

[1%er]

F1 Whistleblower Says FIA President Fixed a Race Result to Benefit Alonso​

Who had "Formula 1 race-rigging scandal" on their 2024 bingo card? Anyone? Neither did I. Either way, new reports that surfaced Monday afternoon claim that FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem used his authority to influence the results of the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. According to BBC Sport, a whistleblower reported to the FIA that Ben Sulayem allegedly intervened to overturn a time penalty issued to Fernando Alonso during that race. The 10-second penalty was awarded when the Aston Martin crew touched Alonso's car while it served an unrelated five-second penalty in the pits—something that's explicitly against the rules. FIA Compliance Officer Paolo Basarri explains in the report that the whistleblower alleges Ben Sulayem "pretended the stewards to overturn their decision to issue" the penalty. BBC Sport clarifies that in Italian, the word "pretendere" means "to require or expect."

The report explains that Ben Sulayem personally called FIA's Vice President for Sport for the Middle East and North Africa region, Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, and told him the penalty should be revoked. The British news outlet claims to have seen Basarri's official report and corroborated the information with several senior figures in F1, all of whom agreed to have received the same information but chose to remain anonymous.

The 10-second penalty demoted Alonso from third place to fourth, forcing him to relinquish his podium position, trophy, and championship points to Mercedes' George Russell. A few hours after the race ceremony concluded, however, the FIA stewards rescinded the penalty and reinstated Alonso as the third-place finisher. The move was met with some confusion at the time, though it was said that Aston Martin had enough evidence to appeal the penalty. Now it appears that Ben Sulayem could've pulled some strings to favor Aston Martin and Alonso.

Again, it's worth highlighting that all of this took place during the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Saudi Arabian oil giant Aramco just so happens to be a major sponsor of not just Aston Martin, but also F1 in general. The FIA's ethics committee will reportedly take up to six weeks to issue its report on the matter. Interestingly enough, the last time an F1 race's results were tampered with, it was also to help Alonso win—something that many years later turned into a lawsuit from Felipe Massa.

 

[Ax^]

This thread should probably be in the tv/entertainment or suburban section rather than sport as its just a bunch of blokes driving a car around for a couple of hours, not a sport, but its fucking hilarious. Lovin it during this quiet news cycle.

Reddit's mods have deleted all the really bad shit so can someone post it on here? What's the sexy stuff?

hello are you new to formula one and it politics

please free to watch a video about prost and senna

and see if anything has really changed aside from the management now being called the red bull rescue authority

 

[Indeliblelink]

Mohammed Ben Sulayem, president of Formula 1's governing body, allegedly told officials not to certify the Las Vegas circuit for its race last year.

The claim is from the same whistleblower who accused Ben Sulayem of allegedly telling officials to overturn a penalty to Fernando Alonso in Saudi Arabia last year.

The whistleblower says they were told "on behest of the FIA president" to find a way not to pass the circuit safe for racing.

The claim is in a report by the FIA's compliance officer to its ethics committee.

BBC Sport has seen the report.

More at -

Mohammed Ben Sulayem: FIA president allegedly told officials not to certify Las Vegas GP

Mohammed Ben Sulayem, president of Formula 1's governing body, allegedly told officials not to certify the Las Vegas circuit for its race last year.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[spitfire]

Well the off track action is certainly delivering and that’s half the fun!

 

[marshall]

Crikey, didn’t know that Jos actually does have form as a beater of women - quick Google - he sounds like an unhinged piece of shit.

Who also had his eye on, and was spending time with, the same woman as Horner - love a Google search

 

[petee]

Road & Track EIC Tries To Explain Why He Deleted An Article About Formula 1 Power Dynamics | Defector

This past Friday, right before the start of the 2024 Formula 1 season, Road & Track published a first-person dispatch from architecture critic and sportswriter Kate Wagner, who attended the United States Grand Prix in Austin last October. As Wagner wrote in the piece, Road & Track “forwarded me...

defector.com

This past Friday, right before the start of the 2024 Formula 1 season, Road & Track published a first-person dispatch from architecture critic and sportswriter Kate Wagner, who attended the United States Grand Prix in Austin last October. As Wagner wrote in the piece, Road & Track "forwarded me the opportunity on behalf of" the British chemical conglomerate Ineos, a major sponsor of the Mercedes team. The article, "Behind F1's Velvet Curtain," is pretty compelling as a scene report. It examines how the obscene amounts of money flowing through F1 can warp reality, as well as the propagandistic way F1 is covered by subservient press corps. The article might have been provocative, but nothing stuck out as objectionable, or worthy of deletion.

Only hours after the story was published, it was removed from the Road & Track website. While the archived version still exists, there's no note from the magazine's editors acknowledging the removal. When asked about the story by Defector, Wagner said, "I worked really hard on the story and I personally stand by it," but declined further comment.

 

[souljacker]

Road & Track EIC Tries To Explain Why He Deleted An Article About Formula 1 Power Dynamics | Defector

This past Friday, right before the start of the 2024 Formula 1 season, Road & Track published a first-person dispatch from architecture critic and sportswriter Kate Wagner, who attended the United States Grand Prix in Austin last October. As Wagner wrote in the piece, Road & Track “forwarded me...

defector.com

This past Friday, right before the start of the 2024 Formula 1 season, Road & Track published a first-person dispatch from architecture critic and sportswriter Kate Wagner, who attended the United States Grand Prix in Austin last October. As Wagner wrote in the piece, Road & Track "forwarded me the opportunity on behalf of" the British chemical conglomerate Ineos, a major sponsor of the Mercedes team. The article, "Behind F1's Velvet Curtain," is pretty compelling as a scene report. It examines how the obscene amounts of money flowing through F1 can warp reality, as well as the propagandistic way F1 is covered by subservient press corps. The article might have been provocative, but nothing stuck out as objectionable, or worthy of deletion.

Only hours after the story was published, it was removed from the Road & Track website. While the archived version still exists, there's no note from the magazine's editors acknowledging the removal. When asked about the story by Defector, Wagner said, "I worked really hard on the story and I personally stand by it," but declined further comment.

It's an excellent article. I'm not sure why it was pulled though. Presumably Ineos got shouty?

 

[1%er]

'My dad is not a liar': Verstappen defends his father​

Max Verstappen has stood by his father Jos, saying "he is not a liar" following his explosive claim that Red Bull could explode if Christian Horner remains as team principal. Speaking ahead of this weekend's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on Wednesday, Verstappen was asked if his father regretted his remarks, which not only cast further doubt over Horner's future, but of his son's tenure at the dominant Red Bull outfit. "I have not asked him that but my dad, from how I know him in go-karting, is very outspoken and he is not a liar, that is for sure. My dad and I are very close. We call every day."

Verstappen's manager Raymond Vermeulen met with Horner earlier this week in an attempt to clear the air at the crisis-hit team. Neither Max, nor Jos, were present. And Verstappen added: "I don't see myself in F1 without them (his father and manager) by my side." Horner said following last weekend's Bahrain Grand Prix - won by Verstappen - that he was "absolutely confident" he would stay on as Red Bull boss for the remainder of the season. Horner has faced intense scrutiny in recent weeks following allegations made against him by a female colleague. He has always denied the claims.

But Jos Verstappen said following last weekend's race: "There is tension here while he (Horner) remains in position. The team is in danger of being torn apart. It can't go on the way it is. It will explode. He is playing the victim, when he is the one causing the problems." Asked if he can stay at Red Bull with Horner still in his role, Verstappen replied: "Well we are at the moment. I saw a lot of stories about that, which was a bit weird to read. But from my side, what I want and it doesn't matter who is involved in the team or not, it's to have a quiet environment where everyone is happy to work."

The intra-team fighting at the grid's all-conquering team has led to speculation that Verstappen, who has won 18 of the past 19 races, could quit Red Bull for Mercedes. Verstappen said it was his intention to see out his Red Bull contract, which runs until 2028 but he also left the door open to Mercedes, with Lewis Hamilton set for Ferrari next year. "Nobody would have seen that Lewis would move to Ferrari," he added. "You never know in general life what happens, or comes to you, or happens around you or what might influence you, so you can never say 100 per cent that that is how it is going to be - and that is the way I approach my life. But I am very relaxed and very happy at the team and the performance is there, so there is no reason to leave."

Verstappen Snr will be absent here as he participates in a Belgian rally. Horner will be afforded his right to reply in a press conference alongside four other team principals on Thursday.

 

[Buddy Bradley]

 

[spitfire]

That’s so shit it’s great.

 

[Limejuice]

'My dad is not a liar': Verstappen defends his father​

Max Verstappen has stood by his father Jos, saying "he is not a liar"

Max, baby, yer pa may not be a liar, but he is an interfering, malevolent, vainglorious, vicarious, wife-beating, bullying turdissimo, who got a five-year suspended sentence for assault, three months probation for attacking his wife, arrested for attempted murder of his ex-girlfriend after driving a car into her.

Still, family, eh?

 

[Indeliblelink]

Red Bull suspend woman who accused Christian Horner of inappropriate behaviour

The woman who accused team principal Christian Horner of inappropriate behaviour is suspended by Red Bull.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[a_chap]

The "optics" of that couldn't really be worse, could they...

 

[Petcha]

Hang on, so they've sacked the lady who made the accusations? What the actual fuck.... What a weird 'sport'

 

[Petcha]

He's on Sky now

Sky News Live: Watch or listen

news.sky.com

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

Red Bull suspend woman who accused Christian Horner of inappropriate behaviour

The woman who accused team principal Christian Horner of inappropriate behaviour is suspended by Red Bull.

www.bbc.co.uk

Stay classy Red Bull, stay classy.

 

[Petcha]

Surely Red Bull, the actual manufacturer, could pull their sponsorship at this point? I mean it's filthy. Why would you want your brand associated with not just the initial shit, but then sacking the woman?

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

Unless she is a 100% fantasist, Redbull has just destroyed itself.

 

[Petcha]

I like the point they make that she's while she's been suspended shes still on 'full pay'

This 'sport' makes football look clean.

 

[dessiato]

Since Horner was cleared of wrong doing, isn't it possible that the woman has been suspended because of making false allegations? Maybe we should wait for the results of any investigations into her before condemning RB.

 

[Petcha]

Er, have you read the messages?

 

[1%er]

F1 Saudi Arabian FP1​

The winner of the Bahrain Grand Prix a week ago, Verstappen headlined FP1 in Jeddah with a 1m29.659s on the soft compound tyres, taking the top spot from Mercedes' George Russell in the process. His time looked ominous, although Alonso got to within 0.2s of the Dutchman's time to split the two Red Bulls at the top of the timing order in the daylight session - like last weekend, in conditions not entirely representative of those set to be experienced in the night-time qualifying and race.

Breezy conditions at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, with a 20km/h headwind along the main straight according to Carlos Sainz's radio traffic, ensured that the back end of the circuit added further challenge to the sweeping corners in the second and third sectors. In their exploratory laps around the circuit, the field was split between the medium and hard tyres; Pirelli had selected C3 and C2 respectively for this weekend to mirror last year's tyre allocations.

Russell posted the best lap in the opening half-hour, going top with a 1m30.806s before whittling it down to a 1m30.554s to throw down a benchmark. Lando Norris then put together the first competitive time on soft tyres after the halfway point, setting a 1m30.424s, which was beaten by Max Verstappen's 1m30.014s on the Red Bull driver's first effort on the red-walled C4 rubber. By a scant 0.003s, Russell reclaimed his position at the top of the timing board and sat there for about five minutes, before Verstappen once again laid down the gauntlet with the first time below the 90-second mark - which ultimately proved to be the fastest lap of the session.

Russell managed to draw closer with a 1m29.939s on his next lap in an attempt to fortify the runner-up spot, but Perez's 1m29.868s proved enough to move up to second. Alonso, who had looked competitive in the earlier hard-tyre running, posted a 1m29.845s to beat Perez - whom he diced with for the lead in the early stages of last year's race. Having dropped behind Alonso and Perez, Russell had to be content with fourth in the overall times, narrowly beating the Ferrari duo of Charles Leclerc and Sainz as the Ferrari drivers completed the top six. Norris was seventh overall, just over half a second shy of Verstappen's time, and only 0.005s clear of Lewis Hamilton. The Mercedes driver had earlier complained of bouncing on the rear of his W15, and asked the team to promptly find a fix.

There was a near 0.4s gap between he and Lance Stroll, as the Canadian recovered from an early scrape with the Turn 21 inside wall to set the ninth-fastest time. Stroll had clipped the barrier with his front-left wheel and had to retreat to the pits, as his wheel cover had made a break for freedom following the impact. Alex Albon completed the top 10 as the Williams driver found strong pace on the medium tyre, but was a second shy of the best lap set by ex-team-mate Verstappen and a handful of hundredths clear of Valtteri Bottas' Sauber. Daniel Ricciardo was 12th fastest, although did his best lap on a set of mediums to sit ahead of Alpine's Esteban Ocon and Williams' Logan Sargeant.

Cla ​	Driver ​	Car / Engine ​	Time ​	Delay ​	Laps ​
1​	Max Verstappen​	Red Bull/Honda RBPT​	1'29.659​	​	24​
2​	Fernando Alonso​	Aston Martin/Mercedes​	1'29.845​	0.186​	24​
3​	Sergio Perez​	Red Bull/Honda RBPT​	1'29.868​	0.209​	23​
4​	George Russell​	Mercedes​	1'29.939​	0.280​	23​
5​	Charles Leclerc​	Ferrari​	1'30.030​	0.371​	24​
6​	Carlos Sainz​	Ferrari​	1'30.164​	0.505​	24​
7​	Lando Norris​	McLaren/Mercedes​	1'30.231​	0.572​	26​
8​	Lewis Hamilton​	Mercedes​	1'30.236​	0.577​	21​
9​	Lance Stroll​	Aston Martin/Mercedes​	1'30.580​	0.921​	18​
10​	Alexander Albon​	Williams/Mercedes​	1'30.747​	1.088​	26​
11​	Valtteri Bottas​	Sauber/Ferrari​	1'30.783​	1.124​	26​
12​	Daniel Ricciardo​	RB/Honda RBPT​	1'30.917​	1.258​	25​
13​	Esteban Ocon​	Alpine/Renault​	1'30.945​	1.286​	27​
14​	Logan Sargeant​	Williams/Mercedes​	1'30.966​	1.307​	27​
15​	Oscar Piastri​	McLaren/Mercedes​	1'30.977​	1.318​	22​
16​	Yuki Tsunoda​	RB/Honda RBPT​	1'31.036​	1.377​	25​
17​	Pierre Gasly​	Alpine/Renault​	1'31.046​	1.387​	25​
18​	Zhou Guanyu​	Sauber/Ferrari​	1'31.131​	1.472​	24​
19​	Nico Hulkenberg​	Haas/Ferrari​	1'31.411​	1.752​	19​
20​	Kevin Magnussen​	Haas/Ferrari​	1'31.577​	1.918​	18​

 

[1%er]

F1 Saudi Arabian FP2​

The start of the second one-hour session on Thursday in Jeddah was delayed by 10 minutes as the FIA checked drain covers in the pitlane, but it ran to time under the lights in what is the only representative practice night-time running ahead of qualifying and the race. Oscar Piastri led the pack out of the pits in his McLaren and set the initial first-place benchmark at 1m32.956s after Valtteri Bottas had lost the rear of his Sauber and spun at Turn 1. With most of the pack heading out on the medium or hard tyres, bar the two RB drivers on the softs from the start, Zhou Guanyu took a brief turn at the top with his first lap on the mediums before the two Red Bull drivers immediately blasted ahead.

Verstappen's first medium flier came in at 1m30.447s before Sergio Perez nipped quicker by 0.02s, also on the mediums – the pair then shuffled back by Alonso's first effort, a 1m29.846s, also set on the mediums. Verstappen's second flying lap on the mediums brought him to 0.051s behind Alonso, before the Spaniard moved the benchmark again just past the 10-minute mark, with a 1m29.560s. But a few minutes later Verstappen finally got back to the top spot with a 1m29.543s, with a lull in action then ensuing as the drivers returned to the pits to prepare for their qualifying simulation efforts on the soft tyres.

These were kicked off by Bottas, but Alonso emerged first of the frontrunners soon afterwards and was quickly again lighting up the timing screens. At the 25-minute mark, he registered the quickest time in sectors one and three on his way to a session-topping 1m28.827s. Following shortly behind, Verstappen set a personal best but was a big chunk behind – a 0.550s gap into which Leclerc and Perez soon plunged to sit 0.353s and 0.473s back on Alonso.

Just past the halfway mark, as the two Mercedes cars were gearing up for their soft-tyre runs, with Lewis Hamilton at this stage sitting bottom of the times and facing a post-FP2 investigation for appearing to impede Logan Sargeant at Turn 10 in the early phase, Verstappen went again on his set of softs. He improved to ended up 0.331s behind Alonso – Verstappen having put in a pair of slow cool-down runs before being able to use the softs again on what is a smoother surface here in Jeddah compared to the abrasive circuit used for last week's opening round in Bahrain.

Leclerc, who made a brief trip through the pits after his softs flier, abandoned a second attempt on the same set of tyres, before the two Mercedes cars finally registered softs times. Russell slotted into fourth at that stage, with Hamilton seventh, before the former was then able to log another softs flier that put him ahead of Verstappen and 0.23s off Alonso with just over 20 minutes remaining. The field then switched to long-run data gathering, which cemented to the top times, just after Ferrari's Carlos Sainz had nipped ahead of Hamilton to end up behind Lance Stroll's sixth place in the other Aston – Sainz having been amongst many drivers to have to back out of a flying lap due to encountering traffic.

In a likely morale-boosting result for Alpine, Pierre Gasly finished ninth in FP2 ahead of Piastri, with Lando Norris only 13th in the other McLaren and complaining about his car "bottoming" significantly at its top speeds. FP2's concluding phase included Stroll being shown a black-and-white flag for failing to follow the race director's instruction on not cutting the track limit when powering down the main straight past the pit entrance and Hamilton pitting with just under five minutes to go after reporting a power problem aboard his Mercedes.

Cla ​	Driver ​	Car / Engine ​	Time ​	Delay ​	Laps ​
1​	Fernando Alonso​	Aston Martin/Mercedes​	1'28.827​	​	28​
2​	George Russell​	Mercedes​	1'29.057​	0.230​	24​
3​	Max Verstappen​	Red Bull/Honda RBPT​	1'29.158​	0.331​	27​
4​	Charles Leclerc​	Ferrari​	1'29.180​	0.353​	25​
5​	Sergio Perez​	Red Bull/Honda RBPT​	1'29.300​	0.473​	26​
6​	Lance Stroll​	Aston Martin/Mercedes​	1'29.336​	0.509​	27​
7​	Carlos Sainz.​	Ferrari​	1'29.455​	0.628​	26​
8​	Lewis Hamilton​	Mercedes​	1'29.504​	0.677​	22​
9​	Pierre Gasly​	Alpine/Renault​	1'29.528​	0.701​	28​
10​	Oscar Piastri​	McLaren/Mercedes​	1'29.594​	0.767​	27​
11​	Yuki Tsunoda​	RB/Honda RBPT​	1'29.666​	0.839​	28​
12​	Lando Norris​	McLaren/Mercedes​	1'29.758​	0.931​	23​
13​	Zhou Guanyu​	Sauber/Ferrari​	1'29.777​	0.950​	27​
14​	Alexander Albon​	Williams/Mercedes​	1'29.789​	0.962​	28​
15​	Esteban Ocon​	Alpine/Renault​	1'29.901​	1.074​	27​
16​	Logan Sargeant​	Williams/Mercedes​	1'29.934​	1.107​	27​
17​	Kevin Magnussen​	Haas/Ferrari​	1'29.985​	1.158​	24​
18​	Nico Hulkenberg​	Haas/Ferrari​	1'30.077​	1.250​	26​
19​	Daniel Ricciardo​	RB/Honda RBPT​	1'30.088​	1.261​	29​
20​	Valtteri Bottas​	Sauber/Ferrari​	1'30.153​	1.326​	26​

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

Since Horner was cleared of wrong doing, isn't it possible that the woman has been suspended because of making false allegations? Maybe we should wait for the results of any investigations into her before condemning RB.

Cleared? By who? Oh yeah, Red Bull's board in Salzburg. ffs des.

 

[spitfire]

And speaking of Jeddah, here are the times for next week's Festival of Neweydom, featuring, possibly, some other cars, at least at the start. Thereafter, let's hope the telly folk can spark a teensy bit of interest in "the race" by showing us end-to-end vignettes of Rap Celebs and Hollywood Stars Doing What They Do Best.

Shoot me now.

The UK telly times will be:

Thurs 7 Mar
FP1 - 13:30
FP2 - 17:00

Fri 8 Mar
FP3 - 13:30
Qual - 17:00

Sat 9 Mar
Race - 17:00

It's going to be a looooong season, literally and figuratively. Again.

Quoting so I don't have to keep looking for it over the weekend.

 

[Ax^]

hmm so off to the pub on sat to watch ireland vs england in the six nations as it starts 15 minutes before the race

hopefully alonso and Russells pace is not max sandbagging

 

[Bingoman]

Carlos Saniz ruled out for Saudi gp and replaced by Brit Oliver bearman

Saudi Arabian Grand Prix: British teenager Oliver Bearman replaces Carlos Sainz for Ferrari

Ferrari's Carlos Sainz will miss the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix after being diagnosed with appendicitis and is replaced by British teenager Oliver Bearman.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Monte]

Carlos Saniz ruled out for Saudi gp and replaced by Brit Oliver bearman

Saudi Arabian Grand Prix: British teenager Oliver Bearman replaces Carlos Sainz for Ferrari

Ferrari's Carlos Sainz will miss the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix after being diagnosed with appendicitis and is replaced by British teenager Oliver Bearman.

www.bbc.co.uk

He'll be gutted...

 

[1%er]

Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Free Practice 3 results​

Pos	Driver	Team	Time	Gap	Laps
1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	1:28.412s		13
2	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1:28.608s	+ 0.196s	16
3	Sergio Pérez	Red Bull	1:28.906s	+ 0.494s	13
4	George Russell	Mercedes	1:28.964s	+ 0.552s	17
5	Lando Norris	McLaren	1:28.971s	+ 0.559s	11
6	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	1:29.038s	+ 0.626s	14
7	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	1:29.127s	+ 0.715s	14
8	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	1:29.213s	+ 0.801s	11
9	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:29.268s	+ 0.856s	19
10	Oliver Bearman	Ferrari	1:29.306s	+ 0.894s	22
11	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	1:29.485s	+ 1.073s	12
12	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	1:29.546s	+ 1.134s	13
13	Yuki Tsunoda	RB	1:29.572s	+ 1.160s	18
14	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	1:29.575s	+ 1.163s	13
15	Nico Hülkenberg	Haas	1:29.675s	+ 1.263s	11
16	Daniel Ricciardo	RB	1:29.740s	+ 1.328s	15
17	Alexander Albon	Williams	1:29.808s	+ 1.396s	13
18	Valtteri Bottas	Sauber	1:30.083s	+ 1.671s	21
19	Zhou Guanyu	Sauber	1:30.739s	+ 2.327s	12
20	Logan Sargeant	Williams			2

 

[1%er]

Audi F1 confirms intent for full takeover of Sauber​

Audi has confirmed plans to take over 100 percent holding of the Sauber Group, as well as clarifying some management structure changes. As reported on Thursday ahead of the announcement, Audi AG has confirmed strengthening of its commitment to Formula 1 to step up preparations ahead of entry to Formula 1 in 2026. Having announced its partnership with Sauber in late 2022 and taking a minority stake in early 2023, the plan had been for Audi AG to increase ownership of Sauber up to 75 percent by the end of 2025.

However, the intent is now to take a full 100 percent stake in the Sauber Group and of Sauber Holding AG. An agreement has been reached with the current majority shareholder, Finn Rausing’s Islero Investments AG, who are fully on board with this proposal. Members of the supervisory boards of Audi and Volkswagen have approved the change of plan, while Oliver Hoffmann will step down from Audi’s board of management. The reason for this is that he will become the Audi F1 team’s general representative and will be responsible for implementing Audi’s entry into F1.

Hoffmann will assume responsibility for every aspect of the Audi entry – the stake in Sauber, the development of Audi’s power unit, as well as the leadership and direction of the F1 team. Audi CEO Gernot Dollner will take charge of the Technical Development division in addition to his existing responsibilities, with a focus on developing more efficient structures and shortening development times.

Andreas Seidl appointed as Audi F1 CEO
Former McLaren team boss Andreas Seidl has been appointed as the Audi F1 team CEO, and will be the public face of the operation. Seidl was appointed as Sauber Group CEO following his departure from McLaren at the conclusion of the 2022 season. “I thank Gernot Dollner and Oliver Hoffmann for their trust and am looking forward to leading Audi into Formula 1 together with a highly motivated team as CEO of the Audi F1 Team,” Seidl said. “We have a clear roadmap for how we want to become competitive in Hinwil as well as in Neuburg. We have ambitious goals. Realisation of them is in progress and will be further accelerated through the complete takeover of Sauber by Audi AG.”

Hoffmann, who will work closely with Seidl to bring the Audi F1 project to life, said: “I would like to thank the entire team at Technical Development for the great performance in recent years, and I am proud of the outstanding products resulting from our intensive work that we will bring to the streets in the coming months. Motorsport, particularly Formula 1, is my big passion. I am convinced that by bundling responsibilities and taking over 100 percent of Sauber Group, we will further accelerate our preparations for the launch in 2026. I am pleased we were able to secure the services of Andreas Seidl as Audi F1 Team CEO. He is exactly the right man for our ambitious plan. Thanks to his broad experience from leadership roles on the manufacturer and Formula 1 team side, he will make a significant contribution to Audi’s Formula 1 project.”