AUGUST 16, 2023

Audi denies 2026 PU program delay

Sauber's Team Representative Alessandro Alunni Bravi has strongly denied rumors spread by the British specialized media that Audi's Power Unit program was running behind schedule and, also, that the departure of the company's CEO, Markus Duesmann, had derailed Audi's Formula 1 project.

By Luis Vasconcelos
He has also denied and that his replacement, Gernot Döllner, was seriously considering canning it and abandoning any plans of bringing his company into Grand Prix racing.
Alunni Bravi reacted with humor to a question about Audi's Power Unit development status, joking that, I'm happy to hear that the Audi project is behind the shadow because we don't have this kind of information and it's always difficult from the external people to understand what the status is of development of such an important program, like a new PU manufacturer entering Formula 1.
He then explained that, the program is on the right route. We are working hard to develop the team in these next two seasons. We know that there are constraints linked also to the financial regulations, but we are, with Andreas Seidel, addressing all our weaknesses and try to seek all the best opportunities in the market to bring quality into our team and to develop our facilities. So there is no change for us, nor for Audi.
As for the wild stories that said Audi's Formula 1 program was on the brink of being cancelled following the departure of Markus Duesmann from his position as the company's CEO, the Italian lawyer also issued a strong denial: Audi's project is based not on a single individual, but is a project for all the company that has been, I would say, welcoming it at any level. And I think that there is no change. We work as a team, all together, to be ready for 2026. This doesn't mean that the challenge is easy. We have such a strong competition, we need to be really humble and to work on a daily basis at our best because the competition is extremely high for everybody, and especially in the PU manufacturer side, I think that the competition in 2026 will be really, really strong. So, we just need to be focused on our job and nothing change with the departure of Mr Duesmann.
A view that was confimed to us by Andreas Seidl in Spa-Francorchamps, the German being in Belgium to take part on Friday's Formula 1 Commission meeting but insisting he's now yet speaking on the record, a situation that will only change when Sauber's link with Alfa Romeo is concluded, at the end of the season. According to the German, Audi's Power Unit development program is on schedule, to the day, as a mono-cylinder prototype is already running with promising results in the company's new factory, so the allegations made by some British media seem to be completely unfounded.