The last time Audi participated in the Formula 1 championship was in 1939, when it was still called “Auto Union”. The next time will be in 2026 – here’s the race car for the season.
Known as the R26, the chassis has been built to showcase the technological achievements of the Ingolstadt automaker. It will debut with full specifications in January and hit the racetrack at the Australian Grand Prix in early March next year.
In the meantime, exterior design is all we can discuss. As you can see, the car comes painted in a Titanium Grey shade reminiscent of the Audi Concept C with black undercarriage and red accents. The four-ring badges at both ends are also red.
According to Audi, the company has been undergoing a major “technological and cultural transformation” over the past several years, and hopes that participating in Formula 1 opens a new chapter in that transformation. There’s also hope that the broad audience of the year’s biggest motorsports event helps with gaining new customers and reaching people who hadn’t considered an Audi for their sports car purchase before.
86 years is a long term, and the automaker stresses that it is coming back to the F1 in rookie status once again. Major successes may not come this year, but the company says it is full of ambition and will continue trying until it starts winning again.
The powertrain for the R26 has been in development at one of Audi’s R&D centers since 2022. The first street-legal examples of it have reportedly been made already, but the first test drives will have to wait until special events in Barcelona, Spain in January and Bahrain in February.
Experienced racing driver Nico Hülkenberg and young Brazilian co-driver Gabriel Bortoleto will be piloting the R26 through the Australian Grand Prix starting on March 16, 2026. The company lists BP, Adidas and Revolut among its main partners.
Commenting on the news, Audi CEO Gernot Döllner admitted that, while the drivers will be “racing to win”, scoring the Formula gold right off the bat is not realistic. He said the team was preparing to head the ranking by 2030.
