New rules from 2026 will focus on greater electrification and advanced sustainable fuel.
Audi will compete in the FIA Formula 1 World Championship from 2026 with a specially developed power unit.
The project will be based at Audi Sport’s facility near Ingolstadt and it will be the first time in more than a decade that an F1 powertrain has been built in Germany.
“Motorsport is an integral part of our DNA,” says Markus Duesmann, chairman of the board of management of Audi AG. “F1 is both a global stage for our brand and a highly challenging development laboratory.
“The combination of high performance and competition is always a driver of innovation and technology transfer in our industry. With the new rules, now is the right time for us to get involved.”
The key to getting involved in the world’s most popular racing series is a plan to become more sustainable and cost-efficient. New technical rules, which will apply from 2026, focus on greater electrification and advanced sustainable fuel.
In addition to the existing cap on costs for teams, a cost cap for power-unit manufacturers will be introduced in 2023. In addition, F1 has set itself the ambitious goal of being a carbon-neutral racing series by 2030.
Oliver Hoffmann, Audi’s board member for technical development, says: “In view of the major technological leaps the series is making towards sustainability in 2026, we can speak of a new Formula 1. F1 is transforming and Audi wants to actively support this journey.”
From 2026, the electric power output for the units, consisting of an electric motor, battery, control electronics and a combustion engine, will increase sharply compared to today’s F1 drive systems.
The electric motor will then be nearly as powerful as the combustion engine, which has an output of about 400kW. The highly efficient 1.6-litre turbo engines run on advanced sustainable fuel – also a prerequisite for Audi’s entry into the series.
The power unit will be built at Audi Sport’s motorsport centre in Neuburg an der Donau, not far from Audi AG’s headquarters in Ingolstadt.
“For the development and manufacture of the F1 powertrain, we will build on the valuable expertise of our motorsport employees, continue to invest in our motorsports centre and recruit highly specialised professionals,” says Audi Sport’s managing director Julius Seebach, who organised the entry into F1 as part of the company’s realignment in motorsport.
In Neuburg, there are already test benches for F1 engine testing as well as for electric motor and battery testing. Additional necessary preparations are being made in terms of personnel, buildings and technical infrastructure, with everything essential to be in place by the end of the year.
A separate company was recently founded for the power-unit project as a wholly owned subsidiary of Audi Sport.
Adam Baker will take over the management of the company and the F1 project as chief executive officer. The trained engineer has held various senior positions for manufacturers and teams in motorsport. Before joining Audi in 2021, he worked for the FIA for three years.
Audi will announce a decision on which team it will be lining up with in 2026 by the end of 2022.
Audi Sport is pooling its strengths for the F1 project and, as a consequence, is discontinuing its LMDh project. The motorsport division had recently suspended the development of a sports car for endurance racing. Alongside customer racing, Audi Sport will continue its innovation project with the RS-Q e-tron in the Dakar Rally.
Whether the World Rally Championship, World Sportscar Championship, US motorsport, DTM, Le Mans or Formula E, Audi Sport has set standards in many categories with numerous titles.
Interest in F1 is global and the series is one of the sporting events with the highest reach in the world. In 2021, more than 1.5 billion TV viewers watched the races. F1 is popular in key markets such as China and the US, and the trend continues to rise – even among young target groups. On social media, it’s now experiencing the highest growth rates among the world’s most popular sports.
Keyword: Audi to enter F1