Audi to Enter F1 in 2026 as Power Unit Manufacturer

This photograph taken on August 26, 2022 show the new F1 Audi car after a press conference on Audi which will become an engine supplier in 2026 ahead the Spa-Francorchamps racetrack Spa. (AFP)
This photograph taken on August 26, 2022 show the new F1 Audi car after a press conference on Audi which will become an engine supplier in 2026 ahead the Spa-Francorchamps racetrack Spa. (AFP)
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Audi to Enter F1 in 2026 as Power Unit Manufacturer

This photograph taken on August 26, 2022 show the new F1 Audi car after a press conference on Audi which will become an engine supplier in 2026 ahead the Spa-Francorchamps racetrack Spa. (AFP)
This photograph taken on August 26, 2022 show the new F1 Audi car after a press conference on Audi which will become an engine supplier in 2026 ahead the Spa-Francorchamps racetrack Spa. (AFP)

German manufacturer Audi will enter Formula One in 2026 in line with new engine regulations, chairman Markus Duesmann said on Friday.

Audi will manufacture its own power unit in an era when there will be a greater emphasis on sustainable fuels and an increased electrical component in engines.

From 2026, the electric power output for the power units, consisting of an electric motor, battery, control electronics, and a combustion engine, will increase. The electric motor will then be nearly as powerful as the combustion engine and the highly efficient 1.6-liter turbo engines will run on advanced sustainable fuel – which Audi says was a prerequisite for entry into the series.

“I want to officially announce that Audi has officially registered as PU (power unit) Formula One manufacturer. So in 2026 we will start racing in F1,” Audi chief executive Markus Duesmann said at the Belgian Grand Prix.

“Racing, motorsport is in the DNA of Audi. If you think of Le Mans, and Dakar, we have always been very successful. It’s perfect timing with the rule changes for us to enter F1.”

It is not yet clear if Audi, which has been linked to a set up with Sauber, will run its own team or only supply engines.

Duesmann said entering in 2026 was wiser than starting earlier in F1.

“As we do a complete new power train, the combustion engine and the power side, that is not too long for us,” he said. “In less than four years from now we will be on the grid.”

The project will be based at Audi Sport’s facility in Neuburg, Germany, near Ingolstadt.

Audi is the second-most successful manufacturer in the 24 Hours Le Mans endurance race with 13 wins, and began to work on electrifying the car in that series as early as 2012.

“I am delighted to welcome Audi to Formula 1, an iconic automotive brand, pioneer and technological innovator,” F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali said. “It is also a big recognition that our move to sustainably fueled hybrid engines in 2026 is a future solution for the automotive sector.”

FIA President Mohamed Ben Sulayem expects Audi to make a long-term commitment to F1 when the new cycle begins, which Duesmann agreed with.

“We are here very long term,” Duesmann said. “Within three years we expect to be competitive.”

Audi is widely expected to be joined on the grid in 2026 by Porsche in a partnership with Red Bull.



Gauff is Disappointed by her Wimbledon Loss but Doesn't Want to Dwell on it

Tennis - Wimbledon - All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain - July 1, 2025 Coco Gauff of the US leaves the court dejected after losing her first round match against Ukraine's Dayana Yastremska REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq
Tennis - Wimbledon - All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain - July 1, 2025 Coco Gauff of the US leaves the court dejected after losing her first round match against Ukraine's Dayana Yastremska REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq
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Gauff is Disappointed by her Wimbledon Loss but Doesn't Want to Dwell on it

Tennis - Wimbledon - All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain - July 1, 2025 Coco Gauff of the US leaves the court dejected after losing her first round match against Ukraine's Dayana Yastremska REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq
Tennis - Wimbledon - All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain - July 1, 2025 Coco Gauff of the US leaves the court dejected after losing her first round match against Ukraine's Dayana Yastremska REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq

Before Wimbledon began, Coco Gauff reflected on the significance of her breakthrough performance at the place six years ago — a run to the fourth round at age 15 — and what aspirations she harbored as she prepared to return.

“Even when I see videos of me during that time, it just doesn’t feel like it’s me. It felt like a dream. I’ll always have special memories from that run and, I guess, it definitely fueled the belief that I can be on tour and live out my dream,” she told The Associated Press.

“It’s something that always holds a special place in my heart. Obviously, I would love to win this tournament just for it to be like a full-circle moment,” she continued. “I feel like it would be like the start of the dream, and — I don’t want to say ‘the finish,’ because I obviously have a lot of career left, but — a full-circle type of situation.”

A week after that conversation, the No. 2-ranked Gauff was out of the bracket at the All England Club in the first round with a 7-6 (3), 6-1 loss to unseeded Dayana Yastremska at No. 1 Court on Tuesday night. Gauff was undone by serving troubles, including nine double-faults, and more than two dozen unforced errors in all, not to mention Yastremska's hard, flat groundstrokes.

It was an abrupt, and mistake-filled, exit for Gauff, who so recently earned her second Grand Slam title — at the French Open via a three-set victory over No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the final.

After Tuesday's defeat, Gauff said, “I definitely was struggling in the locker room. I don’t like losing. The main thing I’m sure my team and everyone is going to tell me (is): 'You did well at Roland-Garros. Don't be so upset.' Things like that.”

But as much as she'll want to move on and focus on what's to come, the 21-year-old American acknowledged as she dabbed away the tears welling in her eyes during her news conference that she felt “a little bit disappointed in how I showed up today.”

It's instructive to remember — setting aside that captivating 2019 debut, which featured a victory over Venus Williams — that Wimbledon's grass courts actually have produced Gauff's least successful Grand Slam results.

Yastremska's take? She said she considers Gauff “much better on clay court and hard court than on grass.”

This was the second time in the past three years that she was sent home in the opening round. She's never been past the fourth round at the All England Club, whereas at every other major tournament, including the hard-court Australian Open, she's at least reached the semifinals.

Her first Slam trophy arrived on the hard courts of the US Open in 2023 when she was 19. She already was the 2022 runner-up on the red clay at the French Open before going one step better this time.

Sabalenka's self-described “unprofessional” comments after last month's title match in Paris became a real topic of conversation and, perhaps, a distraction. Gauff and Sabalenka sought to put it behind them — and tell fans they should, too — by filming TikTok videos together once they got to Wimbledon.

“I was a little bit overwhelmed with everything that came afterwards,” Gauff said, “so I didn’t feel like I had enough time to celebrate and also get back into it.”

It's not easy to manage the tricky transition from the Roland-Garros clay to the Wimbledon grass. There's a reason it's been a decade since a woman won both in the same season — and a reason that woman was Serena Williams.

By the end of the night, Gauff was eager to look ahead to the upcoming North American hard-court circuit, culminating with a trip to New York in late August.

“I mean, obviously I’m not going to dwell on this too long, because I want to do well at the US Open. Maybe losing here (in the) first round isn’t the worst thing in the world,” she said, “because I have time to reset.”