Audi will enter Formula 1 in 2026.
Experts predict a difficult start for the automobile manufacturer.
"Building an engine within three years under the existing cost limit is extremely ambitious," said former pilot Christian Danner to the Donaukurier: "I'm pretty sure that you will get into extraordinary difficulties to get a competitive engine in time to have the 2026 season going.”
Audi Chief Technology Officer Oliver Hoffmann was relaxed when announcing the entry on Friday and referred to the complex electric drive train that Audi is using in the Dakar Rally.
Danner sees in this statement a “distance from reality, not to say unrealistic.
Because the bar is so brutally high in Formula 1, I have no idea how to do it, how to do it in time.” But he keeps his fingers crossed, because of course I want a good one , to see a successful Audi,” said Danner.
Red Bull team boss Christian Horner was a little more diplomatic on the sidelines of the Belgian Grand Prix (Sunday, 3 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for Formula 1 and on Sky).
"Starting from scratch is an enormous challenge," explained the Brit.
Due to the budget cap, it will also be "difficult" for new participants to catch up on the knowledge gap with the established engine manufacturers Mercedes, Ferrari and Renault - even if they also have to design a new drive train for the 2026 season, which is cheaper than the previous one and with which the electrical component increased by half.
In this context, Horner also considers his team to be “beginners”.
The engine department of Red Bull (Red Bull Powertrains), founded in 2021, must also design and produce its own drive unit for the first time in 2026.
World Champion Max Verstappen’s team will still be using Honda’s technologically frozen aggregates until the end of 2025.