F1 | Audi: Sainz’s choice is a watershed moment for the German program

Officially the Audi F1 program has not yet become operational. In reality, however, it is already on the field with its top men, from CEO Andreas Seidl to president Oliver Hoffmann, committed to shaping the team that will assemble the power unit of the German company from 2026.

One of the first ‘made in Audi’ objectives is to secure a tandem of drivers of absolute value, a crucial basis on which to lay the technical project. The timing was lucky, because during this season the driver market was (and is) large-scale, with all-round movements involving top drivers and other Grand Prix winners.

In this general framework, Audi’s first move was the hiring of Nico Hulkenberg, a good purchase completed without major difficulties. The German driver didn’t have any great alternatives in his hands, and everything fell into place as best he could. The scenario regarding Carlos Sainz is very different.

The hiring of the next ex-Ferrari driver was taken for granted, since, fortunately for Audi, both Red Bull and Mercedes made other choices. But just when Sainz’s choice seemed inevitable, difficulties emerged.

It’s a crucial match for Audi. Beyond the technical value that a driver like Sainz ensures, the project needs to secure a ‘big’ to increase its credibility. It has been clear for weeks that Carlos has the Audi and Williams options on the table and, if in the end the choice falls on the English team, the blow for the Seidl-Hoffmann tandem will be very severe.

Sainz is a very careful driver, and both he and his management are evaluating all aspects before making a decision that will be an important watershed in Carlos’ career. If Williams is chosen, many will wonder about the reasons for Sainz’s choice, and it is very likely that the lack of trust that the Audi project currently conveys will emerge.

A driver called to evaluate a team in perspective can only make a long-term projection of the present, and today this exercise does not lead to an encouraging scenario. The current calling card is the last position in the Constructors’ standings (the only team with zero points) and this has considerable weight in the evaluations.

It is true that today the team is called Sauber (or Stake), that the four rings on the single-seaters will arrive in two seasons, but considering that work on the 2026 single-seater will start on January 1st, the new project will be entrusted to the people who currently work in Hinwil location. Reinforcements will then arrive, but there is still a question mark regarding the amount and timing.

Andreas Seidl, CEO of Stake F1 Team

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

Technical director James Key has been with the team for a year already (the announcement of his hiring came on 7 June 2023) and the team itself has made it known that a recruitment campaign of around 300 people is underway. It will take time to find them, convince them to move to Switzerland and become operational.

Meanwhile, signs of a new ownership intent on aiming for the top are completely absent. It may be a strategy, given that the lower the starting point, the more important the climb may be considered, but in the meantime the drivers are destined to fight in Q1 and often emerge defeated. So far everything has gone smoothly, at least in public no one has banged their fists on the table, Zhou and Bottas are far from happy but they are going straight.

The first real test for the Audi F1 project is linked to the choice that Sainz will make (soon). If Carlos really focuses on Williams it will mean that at the moment the credibility of the Audi project is far from high, and the limits of the management’s initial planning will clearly emerge. These are hot days for Seidl, who risks failing the first real mission entrusted to him. A defeat against a top team still wouldn’t have been good news, but it would have been partly understandable.

Being preferred to a team that has won only one Grand Prix in the last twenty years, and which is able to offer a fee less than half that offered by Audi, is not the same thing. In Hinwil they hope to succeed in every way, otherwise explaining the reasons to the board of directors will not be a very simple thing.