Motor giant’s $1.6bn shift set to shake-up new F1 team as ‘cold feet’ rumours swirl

Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund is poised to buy a stake in Audi’s Formula 1 team before the German giant even makes it onto the grid for its 2026 debut.

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According to Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport, funding from the Qatar Investment Authority will be used to expand of Sauber’s Swiss headquarters and accelerate its lagging talent acquisition program ahead of its official first season in the sport.

The QIA already owns 10 per cent of Audi parent company Volkswagen Group through its wholly owned subsidiary Qatar Holding LLC.

An announcement could be made as soon as at the Qatar Grand Prix, which starts at the end of the month.

Audi’s plan to transition minnow team Sauber into a fully fledged works operation has been beset by problems that have snowballed to give the impression that the German brand has been having a crisis of confidence over its planned Formula 1 entry, though it denies it’s anything other than fully committed to the sport.

It announced in 2022 that it had agreed to buy the Sauber team over several years alongside starting up its own power unit program in Germany.

But the plan to buy just 75 per cent of Sauber over several years caused considerable problems with the team’s on-track performance. Sauber has plummeted to last in this year’s constructors championship and is the only team yet to have scored a point.

The problematic transition forced a management reshuffle, with former Ferrari principal Mattia Binotto handed the reins as chief operating officer earlier this season.

Audi also brought forward the completion of its purchase plan to the beginning of this year and upped its stake to 100 per cent.

Binotto hinted in a post-appointment interview that projects to bring Sauber’s Hinwil headquarters up to scratch had been delayed and that staff levels had been left too small by the phased purchase agreement.

While the team is still more than a year away from officially carrying Audi’s colours, work on the 2026 car is allowed to begin on 1 January next year. Problems not yet overcome by then will have a direct effect on the team’s competitiveness under the new rules.

“It’s not only climbing a big mountain, it’s climbing Everest,” Binotto described in an interview with the BBC.

The team’s need to ramp up rapidly comes against the background of parent company Volkswagen Group facing a financial crisis amid Germany’s own economic downturn.

Late last month Volkswagen reported that its operating profit to the end of September had declined by 21 per cent compared to the same period last year due largely to poor vehicle sales and restructuring costs.

Employee representatives subsequently said that the company was planning on closing at least three factories — the first such closures in the company’s history — and downsize others, which would result in tens of thousands of job losses.

Volkswagen has since announced that its proposal to cut costs will also extend to cutting all employee wages by 10 per cent.

Volkswagen executives have said the business is selling 500,000 fewer cars in Europe alone compared to pre-pandemic figures, which they say is the output of roughly two factories.

The company’s previous strong sales in China are also being eroded thanks to significantly greater homegrown competition in the Asian powerhouse, particularly in the electric vehicle market.

Volkswagen had previously been China’s number one selling brand but was dethroned last year by local manufacturer BYD.

Another round of negotiations between Volkswagen management, employee groups and unions is set down for later this month.

With this as the context, it would be difficult for Audi to justify to its parent company the massive funding required not just to be ready to debut with its own power unit in 2026 but to race competitively by the end of the decade.

Cashed-up Qatar’s recent interest in Formula 1 is therefore well timed for the nascent team.

According to Autosport, Qatar’s investment could amount to as much as €1 billion ($1.63 billion) under certain conditions. While a significant minority stake appears likely, various reports have not ruled out a majority acquisition.

It could also leave Audi profiting from its initial investment into Sauber.

Sauber was valued at approximately $1 billion at the time of Audi’s purchase in 2022, but F1 team values have continued climbing significantly since then.

Aston Martin was valued at around $1.96 billion by the Financial Times last year when it sold a minority stake in the business late last year.

Audi’s power unit program also makes the team as a package considerably more valuable. Neither Sauber nor Aston Martin have their own works engines.

Qatar’s investment would make Audi the second team to have a considerable Middle Eastern shareholding.

Mumtalakat, the Bahrain sovereign wealth fund, has long held a stake in McLaren Group and earlier this year bought the company outright.

Recently Mumtalakat entered into a non-binding agreement with Abu Dhabi government investment company CYVN Holdings for the subsidiary McLaren automotive business and a non-controlling share in the parent company.

The McLaren Group owns two-thirds of McLaren Racing, with the balance owned by investment firm MSP Sports Capital.

Saudia Arabia’s Public Investment Fund owns a stake in Aston Martin’s road car business and reportedly has a right to shares in the Aston Martin Formula 1 team.

Audi also wouldn’t be the only works team not to completely own its own entry.

Mercedes-Benz owns only a third of its F1 team, with the remaining two-thirds split evenly between team boss Toto Wolff and British chemical company Ineos.

Ferrari is more than two-thirds owned by public investors. The Fiat-founding Agnelli family owns almost a quarter through its investment vehicle Exor, with Piero Ferrari, son of company founder Enzo Ferrari, owning a 10 per cent stake.

It had previously been an entirely owned subsidiary — less Ferrari’s 10 per cent share — of Fiat.

Renault has a 76 per cent share in its Alpine team, with 24 per cent sold to a US investment company last year.

Uncertainty around Audi’s ownership structure hasn’t prevented the team from making key acquisitions ahead of its 2026 debut.

Both Nico Hülkenberg and Brazilian F2 title leader Gabriel Bortoleto have been confirmed both as the team’s 2025 driver line-up and as Audi’s foundation drivers, meaning both are contracted until at least the end of 2026.

Jonathan Wheatley will also leave his role as Red Bull Racing sporting director to become Audi’s first Formula 1 team principal next year.