End of secrecy: Audi board members Duesmann (right) and Hoffmann announce their entry into Formula 1 in Belgium.
Image: dpa
The German automobile group Audi will be involved in Formula 1 from 2026. He can’t boast many successes in motorsport, a racing team is still needed – but there is no lack of ambition.
Isn’t something missing? For example a Formula 1 racing car. It’s not yet in the Audi range. But just in time for the announcement by CEO Markus Duesmann that he would be at the “highest level” from 2026, a bolide bearing the mark of the brand appeared. Conspicuously positioned by the Formula 1 management in the pit lane of the Spa-Francorchamps circuit. On Friday morning, Duesmann and his fellow board member Oliver Hoffmann carefully tugged at the black ceiling until, to their surprise, a racer in Audi colors appeared, with the trademark, the four rings, stuck to it.
Anno Hecker
Responsible editor for sports.
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The story of the entry of the Germans into the world of motorsport has been floating around for months. With his statement “We start in 2026”, Duesmann put an end to the open secret. And then, seconded by the exuberant President of the International Automobile Federation (FIA), Mohammed Bin Sulayem, and the enthusiastic Formula 1 manager Stefano Domenicali, he began to answer the key question in times of climate change, inflation and the energy crisis: Why now?