F1 | Audi makes Hulkenberg official for two years and chases Sainz

Audi has announced the hiring of Nico Hulkenberg. The rumors of recent weeks, which intensified during the last weekend in Shanghai, were confirmed in the press release sent today by the team.

This is the first high-profile choice made by the new Audi management group, which moved into the Swiss headquarters in Hinwil a few months ago. The two-year agreement will allow Hulkenberg to guarantee himself a seat in Formula 1 until he turns forty, entering the Audi F1 Team program which will start at the start of the 2026 season, when the power unit built at the Neuburg an der Donau headquarters will make its debut. a few kilometers from the headquarters in Ingolstadt.

The desire to be able to field at least one pilot of German nationality could only lead to Hulkenberg, who remained the last representative of a nursery in serious crisis. For Nico, the Audi opportunity represents the dream of an entire career, having arrived at an advanced competitive age (36 years) and after having been very close to definitively saying goodbye to Formula 1.

At the end of the 2019 season Hulkenberg lost his place as a starting driver at Racing Point, competing in just four Grands Prix in the following three years as an Aston Martin reserve driver. Nico returned to Formula 1 full-time in 2023 thanks to the call from Haas, an opportunity he used well as also confirmed by the good start to the current season, with three placings in the points in the five races held so far.

Hulkenberg will reunite with a team principal with whom he shared one of the most important moments of his career. When he triumphed at Le Mans in 2015 at the wheel of Porsche, the person in charge of the 919 Hybrid program was Andreas Seidl, now CEO of Sauber and point man of the Audi F1 program together with group president Oliver Hoffmann. Hulkenberg's first hope is to be able to get on a Formula 1 podium for the first time, an opportunity that has always been missed despite the 533 points scored in the 207 races played.

Now all efforts are on the Sainz target

Carlos Sainz, Scuderia Ferrari

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Now that Hulkenberg's contract is in the drawer, for the Seidl-Hoffmann tandem the efforts will be concentrated on the possibility of having Carlos Sainz in the program. It is a tug of war that has been going on for two months and is based on the request for time made by the Spaniard's management.

The scenario is well defined: Sainz is taking time waiting to understand if concrete opportunities can open up in Red Bull and Mercedes, Audi is trying to apply pressure even if in reality it doesn't have an alternative of the same caliber as the current Ferrari driver.

If an opportunity were to open up for Sainz in a top team for Audi, plan B is Esteban Ocon, but even in this case there are possibilities that could open up, such as Sergio Perez if his renewal in Red Bull does not materialize. The Alexander Albon track, however, seems less viable, given that the driver is tied to Williams until the end of next season and there doesn't seem to be any willingness on the part of the English team to sell the contract in exchange for financial compensation.