Audi offers its first glimpse of a new Formula One identity
Audi is barely a hundred days from joining Formula One and the company has now revealed its first signpost for the project. The R26 Concept, shown at the brand’s Munich base, introduces a design vision that sets the tone for an entirely new era. Audi insists on two guiding ideas, clarity and precision, traits the company wants to carry from the circuit to everyday roads.
Chief executive Gernot Döllner describes the step into Formula One as the beginning of the next chapter in Audi’s revival. The ambition reaches far beyond turning up on the grid. The target is blunt. By the end of the decade the team wants to fight for a world championship. Döllner admits that nobody builds a top tier operation overnight, yet he says Audi intends to arrive with persistence and a habit of constant improvement.
The R26 Concept previews the colours and design language that will appear on Audi’s first Formula One car, due to be revealed in winter. Massimo Frascella says the new visual identity creates a shared thread that runs through the entire organisation. Minimal graphics and tightly defined geometry form part of the bodywork itself. The palette revolves around titanium, carbon black and a new Audi red. The racing programme will also use red rings that underline the brand’s global presence.
Audi views Formula One as a strategic flagship. Strict cost caps set firm boundaries, while the audience potential of the series creates a broad platform for sponsors. Formula One reaches roughly one billion television viewers each year and team valuations stretch into the billions of euros. Audi arrives with three major partners already in place, adidas, bp and soon Revolut as official title sponsor.
Entry to the championship came through the purchase of the Swiss Sauber Group, which opened the door for investment from Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund. The project is overseen by seasoned Formula One figures Mattia Binotto and Jonathan Wheatley. The driving duties fall to Nico Hülkenberg and the young Gabriel Bortoleto, a pairing designed to blend experience with fresh nerve.
Audi has been developing its power unit at Neuburg since 2022. The package brings together a 1.6 litre turbocharged V6, an energy recovery system, an electric motor generator and the control electronics. The gearbox is being built in house and the entire set up forms a single integrated unit. New rules will triple the output of the electric side and require sustainable fuels. Audi is working with British firm bp on that front.
The full public debut arrives in winter when the complete team steps out together for the first time. Official testing begins in January in Barcelona behind closed doors, followed by a move to Bahrain where the public will see the new cars for the first time. Audi’s racing journey begins in early March in Australia.
The significance of this chapter extends far beyond the glare of the Formula One show. The car’s architecture, rapid development cycle and generous technical freedoms create a laboratory for the materials and solutions that will shape the next decade. Their influence will find its way onto the road sooner than most expect.
