Audi F1 power struggle is a ‘concern’ – Schumacher
Two years into its preparation and a ‘concerning’ Audi F1 power struggle has led to two high-profile resignations already … What now?
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A clandestine Audi F1 power struggle has already led to the resignation of two major decision makers within the team. And just 18-months away from its launch, this has raised eyebrows up and down the paddock. Former German F1 driver Ralf Schumacher says he already has ‘concerns’ about how Audi is going about its first-ever factory-backed F1 entry.
The Volkswagen-backed German automaker became a 100% owner of the Swiss Sauber team earlier this year. It has also rearranged its massive GT3 racing programme and shutdown an exciting Le Mans Prototype project in lieu of racing in F1. However, its official 2026 emergence as a works team has been struck by rumours of an internal Audi F1 power struggle.
AUDI F1 POWER STRUGGLE
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Sauber Chief Executive and Chairman Andreas Seidl and Oliver Hoffman, respectively, have been ousted by Audi CEO Gernot Dollner. “It’s a very big deal, changing major personnel even before the start of the on-track programme is very interesting,” says Ralf Schumacher.
Some think Audi made the decision because of in-fighting between the Seidl and Hoffman. And Sauber has languished and stagnated at the very bottom of the 2024 standings … not even a scoring a single point in 2024 so far.
BUDGET ISSUES
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However, Schumacher believes the Audi F1 power struggle had Seidl operating with one hand behind his back. “The Audi project was actually on the brink of collapse because there was a small calculation error amounting to 1-billion Euros. The team had to be refinanced because no money was coming in. That’s why the decision was made to keep pay-driver Zhou Guanyu on to get money,” speculated Schumacher.
“As a result, nothing could really happen. They couldn’t hire any people and couldn’t offer any prospects. So, they just let the whole thing run as it was before. With all the sympathy I have for the team, a lot of things have to change at Sauber. And Seidl was fighting with blunt weapons,” Schumacher said.
BINOTTO HIRE
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However, the good news is that the project has at least managed to gain an experienced man in former Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto as a result of the in-fighting. “They just have to be aware that in Formula 1, constant personnel changes is not a good thing. It’s not a big car corporation – it’s a Formula 1 team. Binotto is certainly someone who can do a good job, but it’s also a huge task for him,” said Schumacher.
Another silver lining amid the Audi F1 power struggle is that Binotto gets along very well with the driver they’ve been trying to hire all year, Carlos Sainz Jnr. But then again so did Seidl, from his days racing with Sainz at McLaren. “Maybe the Sainz camp demanded certain personnel be hired and fired within Audi? The two know each other from Ferrari days and really enjoyed working together,” concluded Schumacher. – with GMM
DO YOU THINK AUDI F1 CAN GET IT TOGETHER IN TIME?
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