Audi Will NOT Enter F1

Audi confirmed it has no plans whatsoever to enter the sport of Formula One. Although earlier this year, some voices from within the Volkswagen company, the most important being the one of racing boss Kris Nissen, have hinted that a future F1 involvement was not out of the question for brands like Audi or Porsche, the former now made its intentions very clear for the future.

“We believe formula one and Audi do not fit, so long as the technology has no relevance to the development of our production cars,” said Audi's sporting boss Wolfgang Ullrich recently, according to German news agency SID.

According to Ullrich, his company's decision not to join the F1 field is not entirely cost-related, as everyone now agrees the Great Circus has moved into the right direction regarding the level of expenditures required to set up an F1 team. Audi prefers however to focus on their DTM and prototype sports car operations, as the technologies used there are closely related to their production car business.

“The technologies are closely related to those used by our clients, so they directly benefit from our motor racing. In F1 that is not currently the case,” added the German boss.

Additionally, the cost level in the DTM, a championship that already has a good image internationally and sets the stage for a constructive rivalry with countrymen Mercedes-Benz, is already lower than in F1, and it promises to be reduced by a further 50 percent when the new regulations will come into play in 2012.

“So, the DTM continues to be the benchmark in cost-versus-benefit,” concluded Ullrich, who therefore hinted that the brand's commitment to the German series is for the long term.