What we learned from Audi's unusual F1 2026 'launch'

Audi has held an unusual early launch to reveal a new concept for its new works F1 team's debut in 2026 that might leave you thinking, what is that? It's Audi's design for Formula 1, and there's no need to rub your eyes because this is real. Sort of. Audi hosted a big event in Munich, which we attended, where it showed off what it's calling a preview of the brand's F1 identity, and we heard from the biggest players in the project for an update on where everything is at. Audi is just over two months away from its first F1 car running on track for the first time in the behind-closed-doors collective test with the other 10 teams at Barcelona, before official pre-season testing begins in public. It's not until January 1st that Audi will formally transform Sauber, the team it has taken control of, into its official F1 project. It will present the real R26 properly that month as well, in advance of the private test at the end of the month, and its F1 race debut will come in the season opener in Australia on March 8th. 115 days before then, though, Audi has felt the need for a preliminary launch to show off what you can see here. If you're familiar with some of our YouTube graphics, you'll know we love making a half-and-half car mashup, but this is nothing to do with us. It's Audi's own official imagery of what it's calling the R26 concept. Audi claims it wants to have the most striking car on the grid and be the most daring brand off the track. This livery certainly is eye-catching, and if Audi did genuinely enter F1 with something closely resembling this look, it would definitely stand out, although it might be grateful that high-tech failed to get an entry for 2026, given there are certain similarities. So what are we looking at? Automotive manufacturers love concept cars, and this is clearly a play on that. Audi recently launched the Concept C, with an all-titanium finish, which is a brand new identity that will be rolled out for future models. But it also has a nod to Audi's motorsport history, given that part of the inspiration is the Auto Union Type C, part of the ultra-successful run of models raced by Auto Union, which was an amalgamation of four manufacturers, including Audi, and is modern Audi's immediate predecessor. Audi calls the R26 concept a preview of the colour scheme and design of its first F1 car. So, do we think the final F1 car will look like this? Not quite, but maybe surprisingly close. The half-and-half nature is probably a bit of a giveaway. The F1 reveal clearly ties into the C with a titanium front half of the design, and it seems likely that it will at least form part of the 2026 base livery. Presumably the F1 design will be mostly made up of the second half of what's described as the precise geometric cuts on this car, carbon black and supposedly a new Audi red. That red will also be used selectively as the colour for the famous Audi rings, so that definitely will be a feature. Audi's made no secret that this is a grand corporate exercise, and that explains why there's no branding for title partner Revolut, fuel partner BP, or teamwear supplier Adidas, or a hint of anything to do with the Qatar Investment Authority, a minority shareholder in the team. It's all about the Audi brand being front and centre for a couple of months, and it's a welcome burst of fresh material, as it's easy to forget Audi officially launched its F1 plans over three years ago now, with a show car and concept livery that has felt out of date for quite a while. This is a unique approach, to say the least, so let us know in the comments if you like it. Audi's F1 entry has been long in the making, but this event was a sign that everything is now properly coming together and reaching some key final milestones. And while the show car with the flashy visuals was a star in Munich, it's what will be under the skin of the real thing that stands as a greater symbol of Audi's progress. The first Audi engine has been in development since Spring 2022. The V6 engine, MG UK, and associated hybrid components and the gearbox have all been developed at Audi's Newburgh facility, in cooperation with the car development work being undertaken at Sauber's Hinville base in Switzerland, where for example the gearbox housing and rear axle are produced. Priority development areas there relate to engine integration to maximise thermal efficiency and energy management, the latter being particularly important as increased electrification of the F1 engines for 2026 places an added premium on energy harvesting and deployment capabilities. The Newburgh facility has been heavily invested in and expanded to accommodate the F1 project. A complete powertrain, engine and gearbox, has been running across 22 Audi test benches since last year, with the final endurance runs completed this Autumn. The very first Audi F1 engines are now finished. Construction is complete, the first fire-up of an engine installed into a chassis is coming soon, and from December, some will already be shipped to Bahrain for the February pre-season tests. This is what Scott Mitchell-Mahm learned about the engine progress from Wednesday's Audi One event. So the first Audi F1 engines are technically ready. They've gone through the initial process and they will be basically getting put into the car for the first fire-up in the next few weeks, probably very early in December. The reason we're doing this so early is because it's not actually just the end of January pre-season tests, but obviously the engines have got to get out to Bahrain, so those engines will be sent by freight in December. So where are these engines at? Well this is obviously the unknown. Gennart Dolner joked in his media session that I was in when he was asked how do you measure the performance of the engine and the level of the engine when nobody knows what everybody else is doing for 2026, and he joked we're measuring kilowatts because obviously he doesn't want to put a number on where he thinks they'll be or what they think they'll be losing. Obviously Audi know they're up against it because they're going up against established manufacturers even though they could do a perfectly respectable job, they're expecting to have a power deficit. The big priority early on is reliability. Now, in terms of how that's going to manifest itself in what kind of engines we see or don't see, but the performance of them that we see in the first few iterations of Audi, what we have in January for Barcelona and then obviously the Bahrain test is going to be what Matteo Bonotto said when I asked him, quite distant from what Audi hopes to start the season with in Australia. So they're going to be moving deadlines around, they're going to be pushing deadlines as much as possible to leave the engine and performance of the engine as late as it can, but they have to get a more, let's say, safe version of the engine in the car for those crucial first runs in Barcelona and in Bahrain. Even though Sauber's 2025 season isn't over, there's clearly a lot of excitement within Audi and all the divisions about next year. It will be a huge moment for the manufacturer and for F1 given Audi's never competed in it before. But even once it finally races as Audi officially, there'll be a long way to go because even though Sauber's had a good, respectable year in F1 and even scored a podium, in reality it is far from the level required of Audi's works team. Whatever progress has been made on the Sauber side, and however good Audi's first crack at an F1 engine turns out to be, this entry is almost certainly several years from being a proper frontrunner. What it has in its favour now is a trajectory and plan that looks a lot more credible in terms of making the progress required. Bonotto has overall responsibility for the Audi F1 project as it was felt that one person having ultimate oversight of both the car and race team at Sauber and the engine development in Newburgh was critical. He took on that role in May this year, in a reorganisation that included the departure of long-time engine project leader Adam Baker. Now Chief Technical Officer Stefan Dreyer heads the development of the engine, with COO Christian Foyer in charge of operational processes at Newburgh. On the Sauber side, ex-Red Bull man Jonathan Wheatley has been running the F1 team since April, with James Key as Technical Director, having been hired under Bonotto's predecessor Andreas Seidel. And this is also being supported by a technology office that has been in operation in Bicester in the UK since summer 2025. While a third location is another potential headache to manage logistically, it gives Audi access to additional F1 expertise, as historically Sauber has struggled to encourage potential recruits to relocate from the UK to Switzerland. This has brought Audi's overall F1 structure to a sensible place, although it's been too long in the making. What Bonotto's doing now is basically what Seidel thought he would be doing in the first place, but never quite had the authority or the investment required, as Audi's board underestimated what was required by Sauber, and was also subject to some predictable big manufacturer politics too. That does seem to have been largely addressed, and for Audi it's a case of better late than never. Still, it would be naive to think that this has been the build-up that Audi wanted or needed. It is probably 18 months or two years behind where it could have been if it had done it right from the start, and that's reflected in revised expectations that mean the target of fighting for world But where's that left the project with time almost up before its debut? Let's go back to Scott for the answer. When Audi boss Gernot Dolner gave a speech as part of the event earlier this evening, there was a huge countdown clock behind him, ticking down to the start of the Australian Grand Prix and the 2026 season opener. Audi is acutely aware that it has barely 100 days to get things ready for its first Formula One race as a works team. The question is obviously what level will it be at when that comes around? It's not quite going to be where Audi is used to compete in. A huge emphasis of this event has been its motorsport legacy and heritage. There's been race winning, championship winning, title winning cars and drivers from decades of Audi success in various different disciplines. That's not going to be repeatable immediately in Formula One. This message of winning by 20 or fighting for championships by 2030 is considered realistic, but ambitious by team boss Mattia Bonotto. So in terms of what still needs to be done, obviously there is on the team side, it still needs to grow. They're still recruiting. They're still trying to make Sauber itself at Hinville bigger and have a different way of working, challenging the culture, trying to trust each other, trying to trust themselves more. On the Neuberg side, on the engine side, they need to prove that they can actually build a top level F1 engine and the whole thing needs to come together. We've seen works teams fail consistently in Formula One. Right now, for example, the most out and out works team in Formula One Ferrari cannot achieve what it wants to achieve. What Audi is trying to do is put the building blocks in place. It's actually in a much better position now than it was looking like it would be in a couple of years ago. The question is obviously going to be whether that's enough come Australia.