Amid the unrelenting swirl of rumours, Audi is still steering straight towards Formula 1 with a clear message from the executive cockpit.
Jurgen Rittersberger, the brand’s CFO and a leading board member of the VW-owned powerhouse, quashed swirling speculations with a declaration: “We had a clear decision-making situation on the board of directors and the supervisory board,” he was quoted by the Kolner Express as having reassured business analysts, moving to shut down hearsays of a strategy shift away from F1 altogether, a Porsche takeover of the Sauber project, and even the odd whisper of an opportunistic return of Toyota to the grand prix circuits.
But the race track of corporate maneuvering is never without its twists. A new Audi CEO, Gernot Dollner, has taken the wheel from the much-more F1-avid Markus Duessmann. With Dollner’s recent move from Porsche, it’s understood he’s still within the confidential bounds of a vow of near-silence.
The CEO transition has sparked a firestorm of rumours that Audi might downshift to focus instead on its fleet of production vehicles and the VW-powered cost-cutting pursuit. Rittersberger, though, sounds clear about Audi’s commitment to buying the rest of the Sauber majority: “We are sticking to our schedules for entry (into F1) in 2026. There is no other decision.”
