Key Audi F1 DOUBTS raised ahead of 2026

Audi

Key Audi F1 DOUBTS raised ahead of 2026

Audi will enter F1 in 2026

Originally written by Sheona Mountford. This version is a translation.

Saturday 18 January 2025 21:00

With the Audi Formula 1 project set to enter the grid in 2026, one current racing star has raised huge doubts over their ability to compete.

The German brand are set to take over at Kick Sauber at the end of this campaign, breathing new life onto the grid.

In the meantime, Sauber will welcome two brand new drivers in 2025 with rookie and F2 champion Gabriel Bortoleto stepping up to F1, and Nico Hulkenberg joining the team from Haas.

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As a result, Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas were both axed from the team, with the latter now set to undertake the role of Mercedes reserve driver in 2025.

Bottas raises Audi doubts

"My biggest concern is the chassis. It will not be manufactured by Audi, but will continue to be manufactured by Sauber," Bottas said to Sky Sports Germany.

“The chassis side definitely needs to be improved.”

Valtteri Bottas raises concerns about his former team

Whilst Sauber CEO Mattia Binotto claimed that progress is going in the right direction for the team, he echoed Bottas’ concerns that there is still a long way to go ahead of Audi’s arrival.

“With some great updates, progress is going in the right direction," he added.

“There is much less production and technical capacity, a very outdated simulator and also around 400 fewer people than at a top team.”

“This team has only survived for the past ten years, it has been in survival mode.”

In a bleak assessment of the work ahead of them, Binotto concluded by stating that the team could only start being successful as late as 2030, a concerning update for the team's immediate future.

Nico Hulkenberg Audi Valtteri Bottas Zhou Guanyu Gabriel Bortoleto Kick Sauber