Audi will ‘no longer be a German team’ as takeover set to be announced at Qatar Grand Prix

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Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto announcement on Wednesday was a quiet blow to Formula 1 in Germany. They denied a seat to Mick Schumacher, who hoped to return to the grid.

Schumacher was a contender for the Audi drive, but Mattia Binotto went in a different direction. Bortoleto’s stock is considerably higher in the context of his F3 triumph last year and his ongoing F2 title bid.

By contrast, Schumacher has been out of F1 for two years after losing his Haas drive. With only the Red Bull/RB dilemma left to solve – Franco Colapinto is the only external candidate under consideration – he looks set to miss out for a third straight season.

Ralf Schumacher offered Mick Schumacher some ‘crazy’ hope on Wednesday, stressing that an an opportunity could still arise next year. Logan Sargeant’s mid-season exit at Williams, and Colapinto’s subsequent emergence, illustrate that point.

Ultimately, his uncle accepts that Binotto’s decision was justified. It leaves a 37-year-old Nico Hulkenberg, whose multi-year Audi deal will likely be his last F1 contract, as the only German representative on the grid.

Meanwhile, the German Grand Prix hasn’t featured on the calendar since 2019, though F1 did stop at the Nurburgring in the makeshift 2020 season under the guise of the Eifel GP. That paints a bleak picture, but Audi’s 2026 arrival was supposed to improve matters.

Audi’s Qatari takeover will be announced this month before Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto arrival

Speaking on the F1-Insider YouTube channel, Ralf Bach reported that Audi have sold a majority stake in the team to Qatari investors. Fittingly, they will announce this deal at the Qatar Grand Prix later this month.

Bach sees it as a blow to F1 in Germany, because Audi’s iconic four rings will now be little more than ‘make-up’. It will effectively be a Qatari team with a German badge.

Bach said: “What we also didn’t tell you is that Audi will no longer be a German team in the future because, from what I’ve heard, they have Qatari backers. The majority of the Audi team sold, more or less announced in Qatar. 

“That means we won’t just have any more in the drivers in the future other than Nico Hulkenberg. We will have Audi, [where] the four rings are just make-up. The majority of the team will belong to people from Qatar.”

The ‘terrible dilemma’ that may have led to Audi’s Qatar deal

Volkswagen, who own Audi, recently announced the unprecedented closure of three factories in Germany. In the face of extensive job losses, it was difficult to justify continuing the F1 project.

Audi had a ‘terrible dilemma’, having progressed so far in their preparations. This Qatari investment deal is the solution – it allows them to proceed without drawing too heavily on VW’s strained resources.

Audi will join Mercedes on the F1 grid, but the Silver Arrows are headquartered in Brackley and could be seen as a British team. What the country is really waiting for is its next great racing talent.

German drivers have scored 179 victories in the sport, second only to their British counterparts (314). Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel are responsible for 144 of those.

But equally, Martin Brundle says F1 feels ‘more complete’ with Bortoleto, who ends Brazil’s eight-year wait for a new driver. Legends like Ayrton Senna, Nelson Piquet and Emerson Fittipaldi have contributed to a total of 101 wins.