Audi has confirmed that Beat Zehnder will leave the outfit at the end of December 2026, bringing the curtain down on a 39-year association with the Hinwil operation.
The departure comes as part of a restructuring of the team's operations ahead of the 2027 season.
Zehnder joined Sauber Motorsport back in 1988 and was part of the squad's sportscar programme, which won the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the World Sportscar Championship in both 1989 and 1990.
He moved into Formula 1 with the team in 1993, before being named team manager the following year, a role he held for more than two decades.
Zehnder was appointed to the Management Committee in 2018 and, most recently, led the team's Heritage activities as Director Signature Programs & Operations.
Over his near four-decade stint at Hinwil, Zehnder worked with many names, mentoring such high-profile drivers as Kimi Raikkonen, Felipe Massa, Sebastian Vettel, Robert Kubica and Charles Leclerc.
He leaves with 36 World Sportscar Championship races and 601 consecutive Formula 1 races to his name.
The team thanked Zehnder for his service, highlighting that throughout his tenure, Zehnder never lost his “professionalism, his relentless competitive streak or his desire to win.”
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