Audi F1 has confirmed to PlanetF1.com that it has completed its full takeover of the existing Sauber team ahead of the F1 2025 season.
Audi’s official F1 entry is less than a year away, with the German manufacturer announcing in 2022 that it would take over the current Sauber team in time for the sport’s new era in F1 2026.
Additional reporting by Thomas Maher
The original intention was for Audi F1 to purchase only 75 per cent of Sauber. However, plans were revealed in March last year for Audi F1 to fully acquire the Swiss-based team.
In a statement, Audi F1 confirmed that the takeover of Sauber was completed as planned at the start of 2025. The price was not disclosed, but is believed to be in the region of €600million.
A spokesperson for Audi confirmed to PlanetF1.com that “closing was concluded in January, as planned.
“Audi now is the 100 per cent owner of Sauber Holding AG, the mother company of the team.”
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The news of Audi’s completed takeover comes after the marque announced last November that it had sold a minority stake in the F1 team – understood by PlanetF1.com to be around 30 per cent – to the sovereign wealth fund of Qatar.
The deal was announced on the Friday of the Qatar Grand Prix, where Zhou Guanyu scored the team’s only points of the F1 2024 season with an eighth-placed finish.
Zhou and team-mate Valtteri Bottas were released by the team at the end of last season, with Sauber fielding an all-new driver pairing of Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto, the newly crowned F2 champion, for F1 2025.
Audi F1 received a further boost this week when it emerged that new team principal Jonathan Wheatley is poised to start work with the team earlier than anticipated.
Wheatley was confirmed as Audi F1 team boss last summer following a successful stint as Red Bull’s sporting director.
He was originally not expected to start work with Audi F1 until this summer, but multiple reports have claimed that Wheatley is likely to join his new employers in April after Red Bull agreed an early release.
The reports of Wheatley’s fast-tracked arrival came just hours after Sauber confirmed the departure of Alessandro Alunni Bravi, who had effectively served as team principal across 2023/24 following Fred Vasseur’s move to Ferrari in December 2022.
Paying tribute to Alunni Bravi’s contribution, Sauber chief Mattia Binotto said: “Having worked closely with him in the months since my arrival to Hinwil, I want to pay tribute to Alessandro, a true team player who came to embody the essence of Sauber throughout the years.
“Alessandro played a wide range of roles within the team, steering it through difficult and exciting times alike.
“As he moves onto a new venture, the whole company would like to thank him for all his energy and contributions over the years and wish him the best for the future.”
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Alunni Bravi added: “It is an emotional time as my journey with Sauber reaches its end.
“Since I joined in 2017, I have seen this team grow and change beyond what anyone could have imagined.
“This organisation went through exciting and difficult times alike, all without ever losing its spirit and its commitment, which is something I find inspiring, and I was proud of being able to represent the team as its public face in the last two years.
“As I move on to a new project, I want to thank Finn Rausing, all those who put so much trust and faith in me at Sauber and Audi, and all the colleagues I have been working with for the last eight years.
“This team is a family and has a bright future ahead.”
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2025-01-18T10:37:17Z