07/09/2024
NEWS STORY
Aware of the enormous task ahead, Audi is setting itself a more realistic target for when it enters the sport in 2026.
It's all very well having three-year plans, but as the likes of Toyota will tell you, setting targets compared to the reality of when you finally hit the grid are entirely different matters.
Audi, which enters the sport in 2026, had previously targeted winning races within three years of entering, though it wisely held off in terms of when it might be in a position to challenge for titles.
Now, chief executive officer Gernot Dollner, CEO of Audi AG, admits that the German constructor has "recalibrated our time path".
"We are aware it will be a several-year programme," admitted the German at Monza at the weekend. "We started the discussion of how ambitious we can be but haven't finished that discussion."
His admission comes weeks after the mysterious firing of former team bosses Oliver Hoffmann and Andreas Seidl and the recruitment of former Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto and Red Bull's sporting director, Jonathan Wheatley.
"It definitely is the right time," insisted Dollner. "The decision was well-prepared two and a half years ago. We re-evaluated it last year and we believe that F1 and Audi is a perfect fit, it fits to our strategy and we are happy to have this project, knowing that it is ambitious and takes time.
"It was never questioned that F1 is a great motorsport platform," he added, "the pinnacle of motorsports. We just re-evaluated if our set-up was the right one. And then we came over to take complete responsibilities for Sauber earlier than expected, and the second step is a future-oriented management strategy.
"It is a clear structure with clear responsibilities," he said of the new management structure, "and we believe Mattia and Jonathan will be the perfect team to share the responsibilities, and if a last decision will be needed I will take it, but I don't see the need to do so.
"Of course, we discuss important things such as drivers together and come to a shared conclusion."
Other than observing the titanic four-way battle developing for the 2024 titles, Audi will be only too aware of the monumental task it faces as it morphs from the current Stake (Sauber) team which has yet to score a single point this season.
Indeed, Binotto admitted that the current lack of competitiveness cannot continue.
"We cannot afford it," said the Italian. "This is the team and we need to progress. The position is not a comfortable one. It is very painful. We need to do continuous progress day by day."
"We are absolutely independent in handling this project," said Dollner, insisting that the F1 team will work outside the corporate structure of the German car manufacturer. "With the new set-up we also improved, to make the F1 project as fast and independent from any corporate process.
"Only when it comes to marketing and some design aspects, and of course sponsorship, we need the link, but otherwise the decisions have to be taken in Hinwil. That's our first priority."
It was the increasing electrification of the sport which attracted Audi, and while development of the 2026 is understood to be going well, Binotto admits that it will not be fully competitive from the outset.
"The programme and facilities are great but still there is a learning curve," said the Italian. "I am expecting initially to have some gap to recover, but it will only be once we get on track we will understand where we are."