Audi Hits Major Roadblock In 2026 Debut Plans

Saturday, 06 January 2024 at 16:00

Updated at Sunday, 07 January 2024 at 12:48

Stake's / Sauber's technical director, James Key, gave an update on preparations for the transition to the Audi works team in 2026, saying it might take his team longer to reach the "final product" stage.

Sauber's collaboration with Alfa Romeo ended at the end of year 2023, and the team has now entered two transition years between its rebrand to Audi.

It has been recently announced the new name of the team for the upcoming two seasons will be the Stake F1 team. It seems a bright future awaits Sauber.

However, the real challenge is the transition to the works team (the team that produces its own power units). Asked by Autosport about the team’s situation, James Key said:

"In terms of next steps, there's a very significant well-documented plan. We're already acting on it.

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At the moment, the Stake F1 team is quite small and naturally needs to grow to be able to compete with the top teams like Mercedes, Red Bull, or Ferrari. Key continued:

"And attracting all the right talent to the team to join some very good talent that's already there is obviously a priority that we're working on hard in the background."

When a major, successful car manufacturing brand like Audi decides to enter F1, there are quite big expectations. However, the technical director already started tempering them.

Key suggested the team is in a very challenging position at the moment, and looking at the current progress, he does not expect to reach the "final product stage" by 2027.

"I think ultimately, we're probably not going to be the final product that we're aiming for until about '27 time really, because there is a lot to do. But we'll be in far better shape as we approach '26. And that will give us the opportunity to take the step forward we need to."