Audi refuses to supply their F1 engine to other teams on the grid in 2026

Audi has stated that they will not be providing engines to other F1 teams in 2026.

Audi refuses to supply their F1 engine to other teams on the grid in 2026

Audi F1

A few weeks ago, Audi went on to shock the whole world as they announced their plans to join the pinnacle of motorsport in 2026. The delay in joining F1 is solely due to the new regulations coming into play that year. This will enable the manufacturer to have a fair chance at making a good car and a competitive engine. The German’s intend to join F1 as a works team.

Audi has already purchased a small stake in Sauber wherein they are projected to acquire 75% of the team by the end of 2025. This will enable the German manufacturer to become a works team for 2026 when the new engine regulations come into play. There are other teams in the F1 paddock who are yet to decide who their engine partner will be for the 2026 season. They are namely McLaren, Williams, Haas and Aston Martin.

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While Haas has a strong relationship with the folks at Ferrari, McLaren’s contract with Mercedes expires at the end of 2024. Williams and Aston Martin are also backed my Mercedes where the German manufacturer has a stake in Aston Martin. If any team decides to choose Audi as their engine supplier for the 2026 season, it will probably not work out as the team has made a surprising decision.

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Audi is not open to supplying their engines to another F1 team

Audi announces it's entry in F1 and will join Sauber
Audi announces it’s entry in F1

In an interview with GPBlog, here is what an Audi Spokesperson had to say. “The partnership will see the experienced Swiss racing team competing as an Audi factory team from 2026 onwards and using the power unit developed by Audi”, they said. “We do not actively seek a customer team partnership at the moment. We focus on our works program,” they concluded.

While some think that this is not the right decision, it makes sense from Audi’s perspective. Being new to the sport, the team will have to build up a reputation and have a good engine before they go onto supplying it to other teams. However, they could also pay a team to run their engines in order to gather more data. This will help Audi make their engines better and faster and that’s the main goal in the pinnacle of motorsport.

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