Following the shock sacking of German giant Audi’s team CEO Andreas Seidl, Ferrari’s former team boss Mattia Binotto will become the top executive of Audi’s F1 programme.

Binotto will join the team, currently operating under the Sauber name, as operations director and technical director from August 1, 17 months before Audi becomes an official production company in 2026.

The 54-year-old Swiss-born Italian was ousted from the team at the end of Ferrari’s unsuccessful 2022 title bid, having worked at Maranello for 27 years in a variety of technical roles before taking over as team principal in 2019.

“I am delighted that we have been able to recruit Mattia Binotto for our ambitious Formula 1 project,” said Audi CEO Gernot Döllner. “With his extensive experience of over 25 years in Formula 1, he will undoubtedly be able to make a decisive contribution to Audi.”

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Binotto’s signing comes as part of a “reorganisation of the control structure of the future Audi factory team”, the engine manufacturer said, which also includes the surprise sacking of former McLaren executive and top candidate Andreas Seidl.

Seidl left McLaren 19 months ago to become Sauber CEO. His aim was to prepare Seidl, who had been a second-class Swiss executive for many years, for Audi’s factory team.

In March this year, he became CEO of the Audi F1 project and thus team principal of the future team.

But now, just five months later, he has been suddenly and unceremoniously removed from office.

“Our aim is to bring the entire Formula 1 project to F1 speed through clear management structures, defined responsibilities, reduced interfaces and efficient decision-making processes,” said Döllner. “To this end, the team needs to be able to act independently and quickly.”

Former Audi development chief Oliver Hoffmann, who was the brand’s representative in the F1 project, was also dismissed from the team.

“I would like to thank Oliver and Andreas for their important work in securing and preparing our entry into Formula 1,” concluded Döllner.

The shock announcement will do little to allay the sense of quiet crisis building around the Audi project, with the Sauber team in deep decline and the brand’s engine programme facing rumours of underperformance.

Seidl said he was disappointed by the delay in Audi committing fully to the F1 project, which he said was hampering its ability to rebuild the struggling Sauber team and undermining hopes of attracting driving and technical talent, the BBC reported.

Although he was able to sign Nico Hülkenberg from Haas to a long-term contract from next year, the mission of pairing him with a star driver who will be the face of the Audi project has yet to be fulfilled.

Carlos Sainz has been a long-awaited target, but the Spaniard is thought to have placed Alpine and Williams ahead of Audi with his short-term chances of success limited.

James Key was appointed as the team’s technical director last June, just three months after the British designer was sacked by McLaren as part of a technical restructuring initiated by Andrea Stella, who replaced Seidl as team boss at Woking earlier that year.

McLaren has since raced back into the championship race from the bottom of the standings.

Audi’s decision to buy Sauber appeared to provide the team with a good platform to build on when it struck the deal in mid-2022, when the Swiss outfit was enjoying a performance boost in the first year of the new regulations and was looking to move into sixth place in the championship standings.

But the team has been on a downward spiral ever since. Last year they finished ninth with just 16 points and are currently stuck at the bottom of the table with no points scored. Their car, the C44, is the slowest car on the grid.

Audi initially said it expected to be competing for wins by 2028, but few in the sport believe it can achieve that given its low starting line-up with Sauber.

Audi will also produce its own power unit at its Neuburg plant in Bavaria in 2026.

While the program has been plagued by delays and speculation about missing performance targets, the team said in a press release last month that it had reached “significant milestones and goals” in development.

ALPINE IS CONSIDERING ABANDONING ITS BUSINESS MOTOR

As 2026 approaches, Audi isn’t the only major factory team behind the Eight Ball.

Alpine is reportedly close to striking a supply deal with Mercedes in a remarkable move to abandon its coveted factory status, abandoning its exclusive Renault power units.

According to this Automotive SportsAlpine could become a customer for Mercedes engine, transmission and suspension components as early as next year, ahead of the regulation change in 2026.

The Renault-owned team has long been rumoured to be considering discontinuing its F1 power unit programme at Viry-Châtillon, near Paris, given the high costs associated with engine development and the brand’s history of poor performance in the turbo-hybrid era.

Although the engine rules will change in 2026, the new power unit is very close to the current design.

While Alpine has remained silent on the issue, speculation has increased significantly in the past month, including the appointment of former team boss Flavio Briatore to an executive-level advisory role above current technical director Bruno Famin.

More recently, Audi announced a technical partnership for fuels and lubricants with the BP and Castrol brand. BP and Castrol currently supply the same to Alpine.

Alpine will replace Aston Martin in Mercedes’ customer roster, with the Silverstone squad set to become Honda’s factory team from 2026.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said he was open to a deal after admitting he had held “exploratory discussions” with Alpine management at the British Grand Prix earlier this month.

“We like the idea of ​​swapping Aston Martin for another team because the learning you do is there,” he said. “I think as an organisation we are set up in a way that the more power units we have the better we are at accelerating some of the developments or reliability.

“I don’t think it has gone beyond an exchange of views or exploratory discussions.

“Do they want to continue with their Formula 1 engine programme or not? Only when they have made that strategic decision will we dive into our agreements.

“We are open-minded and we told them that.”

Switching to Mercedes could have a domino effect on the driver market, with Mercedes power likely to influence Carlos Sainz’s decision to switch to Alpine from next season.

Sainz has a large share of the driver market, with Audi/Sauber, Williams and Alpine all hoping to sign him, but the Spaniard has yet to decide which team offers him the best mid-term potential.

The switch to Mercedes power next year should give the Alpine an immediate boost in performance. Alpine claims the Renault power unit is 22 kilowatts below its rivals, and power unit performance needs to be pegged to parity.

Under these circumstances, investing in Alpine could also give Sainz direct access to the Mercedes factory team should a seat open up in the future.

Automotive Sports He said no decision had been taken yet, but a review of Viry-Châtillon’s activities had been launched so that staff working on Renault’s F1 programme could be reassigned to other projects to avoid job losses.