{"id":423238,"date":"2026-01-21T08:33:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T08:33:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/423238\/"},"modified":"2026-01-21T08:33:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T08:33:16","slug":"heres-audis-f1-car-for-real-this-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/423238\/","title":{"rendered":"Here’s Audi’s F1 Car, For Real This Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

The biggest car news and reviews, no BS<\/p>\n

Our free daily newsletter sends the stories that really matter directly to you, every weekday.<\/p>\n

Back in November, I traveled to Frankfurt, Germany, to see the unveiling of Audi<\/a>\u2018s first-ever F1 car<\/a>. However, it wasn\u2019t the whole schnitzel; it was just the overall design. Still, I learned about the three basic colors, shapes, and the ethos behind the open-wheel racer, which was shown to the media and public free of sponsors. Today, Audi finally revealed the R26 in its entirety. <\/p>\n

Needless to say, it hasn\u2019t changed much, but the little it has changed is definitely for the better. Race cars always look better plastered with sponsors, and this Audi is no exception. <\/p>\n

\"Audi<\/p>\n

\"Audi
\nAudi<\/p>\n

\u201cToday marks more than a launch; it marks the public declaration of a new era for Audi,\u201d explained\u00a0Gernot\u00a0D\u00f6llner,\u00a0CEO of Audi AG.\u00a0\u201cFormula 1 is the most demanding stage in the world\u00a0of motorsport, and we are here not just to compete, but to define the future of \u2018Vorsprung\u00a0durch\u00a0Technik.’\u201d That German phrase has been an Audi tagline for decades, and means \u201cprogress through technology\u201d (literally translates to \u201cadvantage through technology\u201d).<\/p>\n

\u201cThis project is a catalyst for our entire company, a symbol of our transformation towards a more performance-driven, efficient, and innovative culture. Our philosophy is one of absolute, long-term commitment. We understand that success in Formula 1\u00a0demands\u00a0relentless perseverance\u00a0and\u00a0Audi Revolut F1 Team\u00a0is\u00a0not here to make up the numbers;\u00a0we aim to be\u00a0fighting for the World Championship by 2030,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\"Audi<\/p>\n

\"Audi
\nAudi<\/p>\n

F1 is a business, and now more than ever, the series, its teams, and even the drivers\u2014veteran Nico Hulkenberg and rookie Gabriel Bortoleto, in this case\u2014rely on sponsors to run a financially successful operation. Audi\u2019s title sponsor is Revolut, a U.K.-based online bank, but the team has been busy for weeks putting out social media campaigns to announce its other sponsors, such as Adidas, BP, Piquadro, Hyatt, Castrol, and, probably my favorite campaign so far, Gillette, which put out a video where the rear wing turned into a razor. It was pretty neat.<\/p>\n

When I spoke with Audi designer Marcos dos Santos<\/a>, whose team is responsible for the car\u2019s livery, he shared that it was a monumental task to capture Audi\u2019s heritage and future and package it into a new F1 race car.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur first point to start from was to take a long and good look at our own history, to understand what made us great in all the other racing series we\u2019ve competed in\u2014but also, what will make sure that we can keep on striving for greatness,\u201d dos Santos told\u00a0The Drive back in November.\u00a0\u201cSo this is the first step, and then we figure out how to expand on that.<\/p>\n

\"Audi<\/p>\n

\"Audi
\nAudi<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s made Audi great through the years is that we continue to push the limits\u2014that\u2019s our overall philosophy. Obviously, there are many guardrails to consider when approaching a design for an F1 car,\u201d he added. \u201cIt\u2019s an extremely specific architecture, very specific topography, but luckily enough, Audi has a lot of cool things from the past to twist and to build on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Under the direction of Mattia Binotto and Jonathan Wheatley<\/a>, Audi will head into Spain next week ready for the first of two pre-season tests. Then, the squad will head to Australia in March for its first GP under the Audi banner.<\/p>\n

\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\tAudi reveal their FIRST EVER F1 car! \ud83e\udd29\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Got a tip? Email us at tips@thedrive.com<\/p>\n

As deputy editor, Jerry draws on a decade of industry experience and a lifelong passion for motorsports to guide The Drive\u2019s short- and long-term coverage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The biggest car news and reviews, no BS Our free daily newsletter sends the stories that really matter…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":423239,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[441],"tags":[584,49,48,578,576,577,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-423238","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-formula-1","8":"tag-audi","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-f1","12":"tag-formula-1","13":"tag-formula1","14":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=423238"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423238\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/423239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=423238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=423238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=423238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}