In the round-up: Audi expects to be competing to wins by its third season in Formula 1.
In brief
Audi target F1 wins by 2028
Adam Baker, the CEO of Audi Formula Racing, says the manufacturer expects to be competing to wins by its third season in Formula 1. Audi will enter F1 in 2026 as power unit supplier to Sauber.
“We want to be competitive in three years,” Baker told AS. “It is a realistic goal. We want to compete for wins in the third year.
He admitted the manufacturer faces a “challenge” entering the sport in three years’ time, despite the change in power unit regulations which will give it an opportunity to compete with the front-running teams.
“It is attractive for Audi to enter 2026 because we decided on it ahead of time. We have 42 months until the first race. In the last 30 years, it must be one of the most advanced decisions of any manufacturer.
“In addition, in 2026 a regulatory cycle begins, when usually others have entered in the middle of a cycle. The power units will change, but also the chassis. In some ways, it can reset the advantage of experienced competitors in the past, and makes it easier for new builders to be competitive.”
Mercedes Formula E exit due to low viewership – Wolff
Mercedes F1 team principal Toto Wolff says the manufacturer departed Formula E due to the viewing audience being too low for the investment put into the team.
Mercedes competed as a factory team in Formula E for three seasons between 2020 and 2022, winning both the teams and drivers’ championships in 2021 and 2022. Mercedes withdrew at the end of the 2022 season, with McLaren taking over the team for 2023.
Speaking to Swiatscigow, Wolff said that Formula 1 has become so popular it has “dwarfed” other series.
“I think that Formula 1 has become so big that everything else has been dwarfed,” Wolff said. “We were really happy, successful in DTM for over 30 years.
“But it has come to a point where the works team, if you wanted to compete, you need 40 or 50 million euros and the return on investment was too small for that. And it’s the same in Formula E. The audiences were just not good enough.
IndyCar’s COTA return dependent on ticket sales
Circuit of the Americas chairman Bobby Epstein says any potential return by IndyCar will depend on if the series can generate enough tickets sales to make it viable.
The Austin circuit hosted IndyCar only once in 2019. Epstein says he would be happy to see the series return to the circuit, but IndyCar must be able to sell enough tickets.
“It’s a matter of how many tickets you can sell and if IndyCar can sell enough tickets to come to Austin,” Epstein explained. “Are we the theatre, or are we building the sport? It’s not our job to build the sport or the fan base. As much as we would like to, it’s not our job and we don’t have the budget for that.
“I’m a huge IndyCar fan. I would love to see them back here. The numbers just have to work.”
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Links
Motor racing links of interest:
2023 F1 car convergence splits opinion (Speedcafe)
Paul Monaghan: “There are regulation changes coming along for next year. Are we all going to have the same solution at race one? I doubt it; that doesn’t seem to be the way of our sport. So, I think there will be differences in there; they will be smaller in magnitude to those we’ve seen in, say, 2010, 2011, ’12, and so on and so forth.”
23 Audi Formula Racing GmbH Jobs (Motorsport Jobs)
A listing of various roles for Audi’s Formula 1 project, including ‘FIA Financial Regulations and Cost Cap’.
The alternative 2022 sports awards: quotes, gaffes and animal cameos (Guardian)
“Came in May: Martin Brundle chasing down basketball prospect Paolo Banchero on the Miami grid shouting “Patrick” at him. Brundle, who thought it was NFL quarterback Patrick Mahomes, was told as the interview unfolded. “So … what is your name sir? I thought I was talking to somebody else.””
Formula E launches new e-scooter range with model on sale in Argos (Retail Times)
“Formula E and Zinc Sports are championing an innovative future of micromobility with a new e-scooter range. The exclusive partnership leverages Zinc’s 15 years’ experience in scooter manufacturing to launch a range of Formula E-branded e-scooter products now retailing through Argos in the UK”
Ranking My Top 5 F1 Drivers of 2022! | Nico Rosberg (Nico Rosberg via YouTube)
“Here’s my 2022 F1 review with my Top 5 Drivers of the year. It’s really been a cool 2022 F1 season – Max Verstappen dominated in the end but especially in the first half of the season it was a nice battle.”
We Show George Russell Our 2022 Team TikToks! (Mercedes via YouTube)
“Time to show George what Admin really gets up to…”
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Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Alvink and Bryce Metzger!
On this day in motorsport
- 55 years ago today Jim Clark took what turned out to be the final world championship pole position of his career, for the first race of the 1968 season which took place on January 1st the following day
