Audi has just dropped the big one: They will officially enter Formula 1! This has been rumored for literally years, but now it’s confirmed. And not just by the F1 press corps, but by Audi itself and Formula 1 President and CEO Stefano Domenicali.

“From 2026, the premium Audi brand will compete in the FIA Formula 1 World Championship with a specially developed power unit,” Audi said in a statement to the media. “The project will be based at Audi Sport’s facility in Neuburg near Ingolstadt. This is the first time in more than a decade that a Formula 1 power train will be built in Germany.”

More Sustainable & Cost Effective

After years of kicking butt and taking names at Le Mans, Audi bowed out in 2005. That was when the rumors started: Where were all those engineers and mechanics going to go" What was Audi going to do, just quit" Was this due to internal pressures from corporate sibling Porsche" The most obvious answer was they were leaving to join up in F1. The real answers were slightly different and much more complex. Yet, here we are, 17 years later, and Audi has made it official.
According to Audi, the reason for diving into Formula 1 is to be more sustainable and cost-effective, citing F1’s goal of becoming a carbon-neutral racing series by 2030. “The new technical rules, which will apply from 2026, focus on greater electrification and advanced sustainable fuel,” Audi continued. ...