This was stated by team principal Mattia Binotto. The team that joins Formula 1 in 2026 does not want to sit idle for a long time, but to win a championship by the end of the decades.
It's a difficult promise to fulfill, but with the factory's support behind the project, it's not at all impossible:
"We don't just have to climb a mountain, we have to climb Mount Everest itself. It will be a few years before we are truly successful, but our goal is clear: by the end of the decade, we want to be in contention for the championship title. At the moment, the gap is still big compared to what we saw at Ferrari, I could say that there is a chasm separating us. The infrastructure, the numbers, the thinking are different, we have to turn a small team into a big team. Our performance in 2024 is exactly what it is, because we are not focusing on 2024, but on 2026. That is where our work, our developments, all our focus are going.
"Audi entered Formula 1 to become a competitive member of the grid. This will be the case until we win, and even after that. We think long-term, we want to develop into a winning team and be a useful part of the sport. F1 is the pinnacle of motorsport and it is fantastic that Audi has finally dedicated itself to this," said the Italian specialist.
