The supervisory boards of Volkswagen, and its subsidiary Audi, have approved the complete takeover of the Sauber Group ahead of the German auto maker’s Formula 1 debut in the 2026 season,
Audi plans to take a 100% stake in the Swiss motorsport company and a corresponding agreement has been reached with the current majority shareholder Islero Investments, which fully supports the change.
Oliver Hoffmann, current chairman of the Audi Formula Racing shareholder committee, has been appointed to oversee Audi’s F1 program as a general representative and will also chair the board of directors of all Sauber companies. Sauber CEO Andreas Seidl will lead the Audi F1 Team as CEO, becoming the public face of Audi’s racing efforts.
Manfred Döss, chairman of the supervisory board of Audi, said, “Through the bundling of Oliver Hoffmann’s responsibilities and the complete takeover of the Sauber Group, we are accelerating our preparations for the 2026 season.”
Current Audi CEO Gernot Döllner will assume leadership of the technical development division of the company.
Döllner said, “In recent years, Oliver has contributed significantly to the sharpening of the Audi product DNA that we are now bringing to market step by step with the launch of the Audi Q6 e-tron. In particular, the high-volume models based on the PPE and PPC, which are important for us, bear his signature.”
Hoffmann said, “I am pleased we were able to secure the services of Andreas Seidl as Audi F1 Team CEO. He is exactly the right man for our ambitious plan. Thanks to his broad experience from leadership roles on the manufacturer and Formula 1 team side, he will make a significant contribution to Audi’s Formula 1 project.”
