Former F1 team boss slates 'fundamentally wrong' Audi approach

Former F1 team boss Eddie Jordan has raised a question mark over the Audi project ahead of the German manufacturer's arrival on the grid in 2026.

Audi will take over the Sauber Group that currently operates the Stake F1 squad.

The project has taken further shape in recent weeks with Mattia Binotto announced as the chief operating and chief technical officer of the outfit.

Additionally, Audi recently confirmed Red Bull sporting director Jonathan Wheatley will take on the team principal role.

The team will continue to work out of Sauber's F1 base in Hinwil, a decision Jordan belives will not play in its favour.

“I have a question mark over Audi,” said Jordan on the Formula For Success podcast.

“To build a car, to run it out of Switzerland, to run it with German people with German manufacturing, it’s a big, big, big ask.

“We saw what Toyota did. They came in, they tried to do it that way and then it didn’t work.”

Jordan points to UK-based advantages

Jordan, who ran his own team for 15 years out of Silverstone, added there is a different mindset and understanding with the local suppliers in the region compared to other areas in Europe.

“It’s a big ask," he reiterated. "I have to say there is no better way to run a race car than through Britain and particularly in that area of Northampton, Oxfordshire and various other places. 

“They’ve just got such a wealth of knowledge. They’ve just got such a mindset of being able to win or to achieve or get the best.

“And the suppliers in the region understand the complexities and the timeframes that people are on there. Whereas you go out and you order a piece of machinery to be done in Switzerland, they will give you a timeline of maybe needing four days, four weeks, four months and there’s nothing you can do.

“Whereas if you’re in the UK, you would just sit on top of that supplier and say, ‘If you don’t do this, you just don’t get any more work, you better drop everything and do it.’ And they work night and day to get it done.

“So that’s the philosophy that there is a racing culture, it’s in the DNA, and I think what Audi is doing is fundamentally wrong.”