I'm interested to see if it happens, it would be awfully strange though if Toro Rosso becomes Audi, I'd guess Audi would supply engines to Red Bull too. I can't see Red Bull being with Renault past 2016, their engine is a disgrace and is holding both teams back dearly.
I think it is a good move for Audi. They won't struggle as much as Honda as they have a lot of experience with turbos and hybrid systems, plus they have much deeper pockets. It'd be huge for a company to do the Le Mans/WEC and F1 world title double...
I think it would be a bad move, if the join now they will be even further behind then Honda as the regulations doesn't simply allow you to be competitive off the bat with it's restricted development. Besides they can't exactly show off any technoledgy in a series like F1 (more like GP1) where everything is basically spec these days. DRS, Cheese tyres, titanium skid plates, banning Aero innovation and Fuel flow limits all have to go for F1 to return to Dignity. I would rather watch 2008 when passing was basically impossible then watch F1 today, battles seem fake and drivers can't push, it's nonsense. It's supposed to be a sprint series but they drive like they are in a 24 hour race.
The earliest they'd join is 2017 I'd imagine, which is supposed to have much different regs and lower costs. For a manufacturer like Audi, F1 is the perfect showcase. There is no other series where Audi can compete against the likes of Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren, Honda and Renault that has massive exposure and television coverage worldwide than F1. If they spent some of 2015 and all of 2016 developing for 2017, they would not be in a position like Honda currently are. Honda have nowhere near as much capital as Audi, nor the technical resources. Regardless of the current spectacle that F1 is (or isn't), things will change, F1 will recover and Audi really could be a big part of that.
Not sure Honda has less capital then Audi (that is relitive to how much budget VW give them), and they certainly don't have more technical resources, most of Audi's WEC car's parts is contracted out and made by different partners, their WEC program is far from In house unlike Porsche for example. Audi would have to massively bolster their technical department to attempt an F1 entry. Where as Honda still had the resources for their engine department from their last entry, they are far from making a complete car though as they Sold Brackley which is now Mercedes HQ.
What does Help Audi if they do join though is TV revenue which they wouldn't get from WEC to offset alot of costs, but there is many millions that need to be spent before they can get to that stage (VW estimated that 1 Billion needs to be spent to make an Inhouse F1 project and that's just for the resources required to make the car competitive).
Every year the Audi F1 rumors go around, but I can't see it tbh.... The whole moto behind Audi is advancement through technologies, and the restrictions in F1 doesn't allow that. WEC has 4 manufacturers now, and le mans is bigger than F1, so doesn't really make any sense for Audi get involved in F1.
Yeah that's the thing, WEC allows for Audi to Market Quattro as they are AWD as well which is basically everything to the brand, and the E-tron technology which is coming to their road cars.
I can see Audi dropping out of WEC and trying F1. For many reasons it DOESN'T make sense, but it does for very important commercial reasons. I believe success in F1 would be a much more lucrative investment than continuing in WEC. The potential payoff is enormous and the brand has enough strength (and funding) to recover should it 'do a Toyota'...
I can't see them dropping out of WEC any time soon... but I would love to see them pursue F1. They never do things in halves, so if they did go, you can bet their engines would be competitive. Back on the F1 season... how was the Lotus wing plate falling off!?!? No idea how the tyre touched it... I rekon it was just a bump that made it detach.
Apprently the energy from the bump shook through the wing and broke it lol. It seems possible though, considering how limited body parts are allowed to flex, yet flexing allows it to absorb energy.
I can see Audi dropping out fairly soon. Car knowledge isn't my strongest point, but isn't Porsche Audi-Owned? Seems a bit weird Audi and Porsche beating eachother to the death when they are basically coming from the same factory.... But back onto the F1 topic, i think if Formula 1 needs to come back to its glory, remove the bullsh** tyres that can only last 4 laps max at 100% Pace, get rid of the only being able to use 5 "Power unit" rule, stop penalizing drivers for gearbox failures and the like. I may have only been 6yo at the time, but i can still remember the absolute punishment the cars went through back in 2004. The 'win or break down on fire trying' attitude was a great spectacle. Now when Alonso's engine *K-Mag's at the time* went up in smoke at Australia, now his season is completley ruined because 1 engine went. 4 engines to do another 18 races?
Both Audi and Porsche are part of the Volkswagen Audi Group (VAG). Also own Lamborghini, Bugatti, Ducati and a couple of others from memory.
When I heard about the Porsche program I thought it might mean Audi would either pull back a bit, or try something else. F1 makes the most sense for them, but who knows these days...they might start doing V8 Supercars for all we know!
Well a V8 program would cost them peanuts, in comparison so they could easily do that alongside other things. But at the end of the day VW controls who does what, maybe even VW moves into F1.
