Amazingly, after just a few races in the current Formula 1 season, there are already talks of two manufacturers entering the sport for as early as the 2016 season. One of those is Audi, the manufacturer who has dominated the top level of sportscar racing for a number of years now, with their R8, R10, R15 and their current model – the R18 e-tron quattro. It seems likely that if Audi were to join F1, it would be in place of the struggling Red Bull Racing, who have picked up a miserable 19 points from four races so far.
Audi dominated the 2012 and 2013 editions of the World Endurance Championship quite convincingly, winning all bar five races in this period. In addition to the championships across the world, they have won the American Le Mans Series nine times in a row between 2000 and 2008. Things went horribly wrong in 2014 though, as they were notably outclassed by the Toyota TS040 Hybrid and eventually by the Porsche 919 Hybrid. Whilst it is clear that Audi will commit to the WEC for this season at least, it is unclear whether their future actually lies there or in F1. Do the Audi to join F1 rumours actually have some truth to them?
The 2015 World Endurance Championship season started really well for Audi with a brilliant victory at Silverstone, after holding off both Porsche and Toyota who were quite visibly much more dominant on the straights. Audi, however, has a superb downforce package for 2015, and some superb drivers in their roster (some of which with F1 experience), despite losing the legendary Tom Kristensen at the end of 2014. With all of these (except for Oliver Jarvis) automatically qualifying for a FIA superlicence for 2016 due to the regulations set to come into place, they would not be short on talent and experience to put into their cars from the word go. Audi will also have a lot of facilities and a lot of very clever people at hand already, so getting some sort of structure would not be too difficult, especially if it turns out that they do replace Red Bull. With a combination of Audi’s clever people, Red Bull’s clever people and a possible shift in the balance of F1 favouring the manufacturer, perhaps this is the best chance for the big German manufacturer to take the fight to another big German manufacturer – Mercedes.
Despite the victory at Silverstone, I’m not entirely convinced that Audi will win the World Endurance Championship this year, as I feel that Porsche has a stronger package this time around. Unless they are willing to scrap the R18 e-tron quattro entirely for a new model, I believe that the car has run its course in its current trim. So perhaps investing in an entirely new car, would it be the right time for Audi to move on, even to do a swap with Red Bull? The World Endurance Championship is a fantastic advert for sportscar racing but ultimately the viewing figures for such a ‘hardcore’ motorsport are just not that great at the moment, especially in places like the UK, whilst Formula 1 figures remain very high in comparison. There’s nothing else really for Audi to win in that category now, having dominated at the top for so very long. Perhaps a move into top-class single seaters is right for them, and the controversial new engine regulations in F1 may well give Audi a reason to join the sport, as they already have experience in developing high-downforce packages as well as hybrid technology.
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