Formula 1 fans will know that Audi will be taking part in the sport for the first time from the 2026 season. Audi will compete as a factory team together with its strategic partner, Sauber. Both parties are now busy developing the power unit for the F1 racing car at Audi’s Competence Centre Motorsport.
It will be some time before the first prototypes start to race around the test track but there is one place where you will be able to see the Audi F1 car in action – and even drive it – long before it starts its first F1 race. Thanks to EA Sports, the Audi F1 racing car will be available in the F1 22 racing game from Codemasters.
As reported in August, Audi will participate in the Formula 1 World Championship from 2026, the first time that the German carmaker is doing so. Audi will have Sauber as its strategic partner and plans to acquire a stake in the Sauber Group. The partnership will see the traditional Swiss racing team competing as an official factory team, using the power unit developed by Audi.
Development of the power unit, which consists of an electric motor, battery, control systems and a combustion engine, has already begun at the facility of the newly formed Audi Formula Racing GmbH in Germany. More than 120 employees are already working on the project.
While the power unit will be created at Audi’s Motorsport Competence Centre, Sauber will develop and manufacture the racing car at its site in Switzerland. It will also be responsible for planning and executing the race operations.
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The Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN Team, partnered with Sauber, has unveiled their new racing cars for the 2021 Formula 1 championship. The event, broadcast live around the world, was held at the Grand Theatre in Warsaw, Poland. It was done without an audience in accordance with measure necessary to combat COVID-19.
Presenting the C41 racing cars were drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi along with substitute driver Robert Kubica. The cars are a further development of the C39 which the team used in the 2020 season.
Many components from C39
The distinctive colouring of the C41 was created in the Alfa Romeo Centro Stile. The design is dominated by red and white, which are the traditional colours of the brand. Due to the restrictions imposed by the Formula 1 regulations, the C41 retains many of the components of its predecessor. However, there are improvements in some areas, such as the optimized nose section and the engine provided by Ferrari is also a new development.
Testing still crucial
“ The C41 is the result of a very unusual situation in Formula 1. The regulations didn’t allow us to develop a completely new car for 2021. That means we know the 2021 car a lot better than usual when we get to the first test. Even so, it will be crucial to make the most of the three days of testing ahead. We have to check that the reality corresponds to the simulations and also get to know the new tyres,” said Jan Monchaux, Technical Director of Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN.
On the body of the C41, the Alfa Romeo logo is flanked by two traditional symbols: the Quadrifoglio, the 4-leaf clover that has accompanied Alfa Romeo’s racing activities since 1924, and the symbol of Autodelta, the brand’s legendary racing team.
Transfer of technology
The partnership between Alfa Romeo and the Sauber Group goes beyond racing. Applicable technologies developed by the partnership will be transferred to production Alfa Romeo models. An example which has already taken place is the Giulia GTA project. This uses the know-how from the engineering and aerodynamics departments of Sauber AG. For the Giulia GTA and Giulia GTAm, Sauber Engineering produces a number of the carbonfibre components for the body.
The C39 racing car in last year’s Formula 1 championship.
“The presentation of a new car is always an emotional moment, the culmination of months of efforts by everyone in the factory and the beginning of a new adventure. I think the team’s philosophy remains the same: we have to do a better job tomorrow than we do today,” said Frederic Vasseur, Team Director of Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN and CEO of Sauber Motorsport AG.
