Audi’s last GT3 car delivery marks the end of an era, but will F1 push be worth it?

As Audi seems to be forward to its bold Components 1 undertaking in 2026 with Sauber, it’s concurrently forsaking its historical past in different disciplines of motorsport. The German producer has pulled the plug on each single one in all its racing programmes so as to redirect its concentrate on F1, although its swathe of followers don’t affiliate the model with single-seater or method racing.

An image displaying Audi’s buyer racing boss Chris Reinke handing over the supply of the last-ever R8 LMS GT3 to Austrian businessman and newbie driver Michael Doppelmayr completely encapsulates Audi’s pedigree in motor racing. Whereas the naked carbon fibre R8 LMS is proudly positioned within the centre, the {photograph} additionally reveals a lot of Audi’s Le Mans Prototypes and Group B rally automobiles at Audi Custom, the corporate’s cell museum.

One must look very laborious to identify a Silver Arrow with which the model then often known as Auto Union competed in grand prix racing within the Nineteen Thirties. If there’s any picture that reveals what Audi Sport stands for, it’s this one.

It’s why the choice to step by step curtail the GT3 programme is especially unhappy for each Audi and the broader motorsport world. The R8 is among the most well-known automobiles within the GT3 enviornment and simply probably the most profitable, with victories in all main endurance occasions together with Bathurst 12 Hour, Nurburgring 24 Hours and Spa 24 Hours. In all, Audi produced 310 examples of the automotive throughout a number of generations, profitable 125 drivers’ titles and 197 different championships since 2009.

Audi has promised to offer technical assist and spare elements for the R8 LMS GT3 till 2032, nevertheless it’s unlikely the automotive shall be seen in motion at first of subsequent decade. Audi no longer provides factory backing to its customer support teams, whereas its pool of manufacturing facility drivers was additionally disbanded on the finish of 2023. The 4 drivers that remained on its roster in 2024 are additionally set to depart as their contracts expire this yr, which means any workforce with an R8 must supply drivers on their very own and pay their salaries.

Then there’s the small matter of the automotive changing into outdated within the face of newer fashions and Evo variations launched by rivals. Slowly all current outfits shall be left with no possibility however to maneuver to newer automobiles from different producers. Even Abt Sportsline, a workforce whose relationship with Audi stretches again 25 years, has been forced to call it quits and switch to Lamborghini for its two-car DTM attack in 2025. The times of the R8 LMS GT3 on the monitor are numbered, not less than in skilled motorsport.

Audi took its seventh win within the Nurburgring 24 Hours this yr, however extra success is tougher to foresee

Picture by: Gruppe C GmbH

“It’s the finish of an period, nevertheless it was a private privilege for me to have the ability to play a really outstanding function on this for Audi,” Audi’s Reinke instructed Donaukurier. “I had this privilege as soon as earlier than as general undertaking supervisor within the LMP undertaking, and when that ended, you additionally had a sense of vacancy since you had recognized very strongly with it.”

It’s reported {that a} whole of 101 individuals work at Audi’s buyer racing division. It’s unclear what’s going to occur to them now that Audi has ceased manufacturing of the R8 LMS GT3, however Reinke hopes they are going to have the ability to proceed engaged on motorsport-related tasks away from competitors.

It’s simple to see why Audi was lured by the pull of F1, which is now in a greater form than ever earlier than. But it surely’s the excessive alternative value that makes individuals query whether or not it’s well worth the gamble.

Audi’s resolution to place all its eggs in a single basket would nonetheless have been comprehensible if its F1 undertaking was working easily. But when the final six months are something to go by, issues have been something however

Within the final 5 years, Audi exited Class One-based DTM, pulled out of Components E, put an finish to a stillborn LMDh undertaking, killed off a Dakar Rally workforce after simply three years and ceased the manufacturing of its long-running GT3 automotive. After all, a few of these selections had been introduced lengthy earlier than it laid out its ambition of getting into F1, nevertheless it has nonetheless left far too many championships in such a span of time.

Buyer racing – which additionally consists of GT4 and TCR racing – was one space the place Audi might have continued with restricted funding, given the income it generates immediately by promoting automobiles and spare elements to unbiased groups. After all, sooner or later Audi would have needed to introduce a successor to the R8 LMS – and discover a base mannequin in its highway automotive vary for a similar – nevertheless it’s a hurdle it might have overcome with comparatively restricted funding. In spite of everything, it didn’t have to essentially construct its subsequent GT3 automotive round a thoroughbred racer just like the R8 and will have opted for a sedan as a base mannequin, much like rival producer BMW’s M4 GT3.

Audi’s resolution to place all its eggs in a single basket would nonetheless have been comprehensible if its F1 undertaking was working on monitor. Nevertheless, if the final six months are something to go by, issues have been something however clean.

Audi went from eager to personal not more than 75% of Sauber to taking on the whole possession of the corporate, solely to then sell a ‘significant minority’ stake to Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund. One ought to laud Audi for turning up the wick, after realising that progress on the chassis facet of the operation was slower than it had anticipated. But it surely’s equally a worrying signal that it wanted to boost contemporary funding from an exterior supply with simply over a yr left earlier than its new automotive/engine hits the monitor for the primary time.

Qatar Funding Authority (QIA) has purchased into the F1 workforce amid monetary worries at Audi dad or mum model VW

Picture by: Audi

Maybe of extra concern is the administration upheaval at Audi. Andreas Seidl and Oliver Hoffmann had been axed in the summertime in favour of former Ferrari F1 workforce principal Mattia Binotto and present Purple Bull sporting director Jonathan Wheatley. The 2 have a giant job of their fingers to regular the ship and ensure Audi is in the absolute best form for 2026.

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But it surely actually received’t be a simple process and the workforce’s incapacity to draw a star driver – with Carlos Sainz selecting Williams over partnering Nico Hulkenberg – reveals the grid doesn’t imagine will probably be in a position to hit the bottom working when the brand new rules kick in in slightly over 12 months.

Audi might most likely take encouragement from the best way it rotated its Dakar programme to win the celebrated rally raid on its third try in 2024. The Ingolstadt-based marque made a good debut in 2022 with the RS Q e-tron however went backwards in its second yr of service, as reliability niggles left it with no shot in opposition to the mighty Toyota Hiliux. That prompted its rally arm to return to the drafting board and repair the automotive’s inherent weaknesses, these efforts permitting it to lastly win the massive prize in January this yr with Carlos Sainz Sr.

Nevertheless, whereas Audi’s hybrid Dakar challenger was nothing in need of a technological marvel, its powertrain was derived from the two.0-litre turbocharged engine it pioneered within the DTM and paired with the electrical motor it developed in Components E. Whereas the data it gained within the DTM, Components E and Dakar shall be immensely precious, it has to construct an F1 energy unit from a clear sheet of paper, which might be the most important problem in its sporting historical past. Even the diesel-powered R18 wouldn’t match the complexity of the hybrid engine that can energy its first-ever F1 automotive.

Till a month in the past, Audi was set to be the one new producer workforce to enter F1 in 2026, and therefore was set to be a focus. However with Cadillac’s entry now being accepted, it means the eyeballs shall be break up between the 2 giants of the automotive world, slashing its return on funding.

One can hope that Audi, with all its may, would finally have the ability to grow to be a confirmed pressure in F1. Nevertheless, it might be silly to imagine that it might hit the bottom working immediately. Even when Binotto and Wheatley are given the liberty to run Audi’s grand prix operation as a smooth F1 workforce, with out extreme management from the board, it might take a number of years earlier than will probably be in a position to usually problem for victories and championships.

Having an current racing programme, like in GT3s, would have helped Audi shift the main focus away whereas it reduce its tooth in F1. Sadly, having determined to scrap its involvement elsewhere, Audi would have nowhere to cover when it steps as much as the massive sport in 2026.

Success for Audi in buyer racing can be a useful distraction if its F1 programme falls flat, however that luxurious will not be accessible in 2026

Picture by: Alexander Trienitz