Audi is on the verge of promoting a shareholding in its System 1 Sauber crew to Qatar – with an announcement doubtlessly coming forward of the Qatar Grand Prix.
Regardless of repeated denials, the primary hypothesis a few potential deal was revealed by veteran F1 journalist Joe Saward, whereas Motorsport.com sources have advised, nonetheless, that the deal might undergo as early as subsequent week. There’s additionally mentioned to be the potential for an funding that’s a lot bigger than initially anticipated.
It was solely again in March this 12 months after the beginning of the F1 season that Audi introduced it might be shopping for 100% of the Sauber crew from former proprietor Finn Rausing. This was for an estimated buy value of round €650 million.
However the state of affairs for the German producer seems to have modified in current weeks with Volkswagen AG, which additionally owns the Audi model, within the throes of an financial disaster.
In Germany, there may be speak of plant closures and the lack of as much as 30,000 jobs. A disaster that can be leaving its mark on the Audi model, which is going through comparable challenges on the world market.
Audi and trade insiders are saying privately that it’s presently very troublesome to justify the expenditure of a large-scale F1 improvement programme with the group, which is critical if the corporate desires to be aggressive within the medium-to-long-term from 2026.
Audi has to date stored a low profile on the rumours of the Emirate of Qatar getting into the fray. The official line could be very clear: “As a matter of precept, we don’t touch upon hypothesis.”
Audi CEO Gernot Dollner and Mattia Binotto, CEO and CTO, Stake F1 Crew KICK Sauber
Photograph by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Photos
When requested, the corporate merely referred to an announcement made by CEO Gernot Dollner on the Italian Grand Prix.
There, Dollner mentioned that now’s “the appropriate time” for Audi to enter F1: “The choice was nicely ready two-and-a-half years in the past and re-evaluated final 12 months. We firmly consider that F1 and Audi are an ideal match. It is according to our technique, and whereas it is bold and can take time, it is also completely aligned with the best way we’re reinventing ourselves on the company aspect.”
However one factor can be clear: the timing is troublesome to argue inside the group that Audi might be able to make investments much less cash given the disaster surrounding Volkswagen AG.
Recent capital from Qatar would due to this fact be welcome, serving to to push forward with the event of the F1 crew with out the cash having to depart Ingolstadt.
In keeping with experiences, the Qataris have indicated that they’re keen to spend as much as €1 billion on the venture if the situations are proper.
Qatar could be a logical investor for Audi in any case as a result of the state-owned airline Qatar Airways is already a key sponsor of F1, and Qatar has been exhibiting an curiosity within the championship as a world platform for years.
Qatar can be already invested in Volkswagen AG with a 17% stake within the group. Qatar is the third-largest shareholder of the Volkswagen Group, after Porsche (53.3%) and the state of Decrease Saxony (20%) through Qatar Holding LLC.
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-AMG
Photograph by: Erik Junius
If Volkswagen AG in the end advantages from an funding within the Audi F1 crew, Qatar would additionally not directly take part as one of many shareholders.
Qatar additionally occupies two of the 20 seats on the Volkswagen AG supervisory board, held by Dr Hessa Sultan Al Jaber, former Minister for Info and Communication Know-how, and Mansoor Bin Ebrahim Al-Mahmoud, CEO of the Qatar Funding Authority.
By the way, the chairman of the supervisory board is Hans Dieter Potsch, and one other member is the Prime Minister of Decrease Saxony Stephan Weil.
Regardless that talks are already at a sophisticated stage, there may be presently no clear data on precisely how Qatar intends to hitch Audi’s F1 programme.
There are solutions it might be a minority funding with out vital modifications to the crew’s public picture.
However the funding may be bigger, with an adjustment to the crew title, which might then embrace Qatar or an organization from Qatar alongside Audi. That might most likely be the case if Qatar was to take over greater than 50% of the shares in Sauber AG and likewise purchase the engine plant in Neuburg.
In any case, the concept of bringing a brand new investor on board with Qatar was not a part of the imaginative and prescient for the Audi F1 programme from the outset, however has been born out of an financial disaster.
Audi and BP brand
Photograph by: Audi
And it’s probably additionally attributable to the truth that the 2 key figures who have been largely liable for initiating the F1 entry are now not with Audi.
One among them was Markus Duesmann, who was thought-about an ardent supporter of F1, was dismissed as Audi CEO in the summertime of 2023. The opposite was Oliver Hoffmann, who initially oversaw the F1 entry as Audi’s board member for analysis and improvement, but additionally left in July 2024.
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Duesmann’s successor Gernot Dollner later dedicated to F1 in precept, after an analysis section lasting a number of months.
Nevertheless, he’s mentioned to be much less keen to compromise in the case of subordinating different divisions to assist success in F1 and make main investments.
If it involves a sale of shares, this might not be a brand new mannequin in F1, given Mercedes is simply one-third owned by the Mercedes group, with the opposite two-thirds managed by Toto Wolff and the chemical group INEOS.
