Investment of $200,000,000 by Audi F1 failed to impress former Ferrari boss

Audi F1's $200,000,000 investment failed to impress the ex-Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto. After being given an exclusive tour of the Audi facility in Neuberg, the team's hopes to rope him in as their boss for 2026 were shattered as Binotto wasn't impressed by the state of things.

Audi has made significant investments in the project and will finally enter the racing world in 2026. The German automaker has already committed more than $200,000,000 to its new facility and hired 300 new employees to handle its ambitions in the sport.

Despite all of the work that Audi has put into its F1 endeavor to date, Mattia Binotto remains unimpressed. He even referred to Audi in his private chats as "clowns."

This is a significant setback for Audi's plans to make a big entrance into Formula 1 racing. There aren't many engineers on the market with Binotto's level of experience and training. He has spent many years near the top of the racing world and was a huge help to Ferrari.

Andreas Seidl expected to lead Audi F1 in 2026

While Mattia Binotto has no interest in being a part of Audi's F1 endeavor, former McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl was brought on board by the Sauber group ahead of 2023's Formula 1 campaign. The German will be in charge of running the team after its merger with Audi in 2026.

Prior to the rebranding of the team as BMW Sauber, Seidl had experience with the Swiss Formula One team. He has experience working on Porsche's Le Mans LMP1 cars, which is a subsidiary of the Volkswagen group, like Audi.

James Key, a former McLaren employee, was also convinced by Seidl to serve as the team's technical director.

It's too soon to tell how Audi's F1 future will pan out. The team will make its debut in 2026, following a significant regulation change. The team might take advantage of the upgrades early and achieve the same level of success as its counterparts, Mercedes, in Formula 1.

Audi takes its ambition to compete in Formula 1 very seriously. The team will improve its present 3000-square-foot facility to produce a completely hybrid F1 drivetrain, albeit the foundation has already begun in Germany. By the end of 2023, it also intended to test its drivetrains and expand its workforce.

Formula 1 has, however, previously seen a number of expensive teams fail. Despite having unlimited funds, in the past, OEMs Ford, Honda, Toyota, and BMW haven't been able to consistently win races.