Porsche could take over Audi's F1 project amidst changes in the senior management: Reports

It is being reported that Porsche might take over Audi's F1 project before their arrival in the sport in the 2026 season.

The Volkswagen Group announced last year that they would take over the facilities of the Hinwell-based Alfa Romeo team from the 2026 season and rebrand it as Audi. However, there have been some reports doing the rounds that Audi might pull out of the project amidst changes in senior management.

Volkswagen may then subsequently decide to give it to Porsche who are already involved in the world of motorsports. As per F1i.autogeneral, trouble has flowed within the Volkswagen Group since the announcement of the arrival of the Ingolstadt brand.

It culminated in the ousting of Audi CEO Markus Duesmann, who had enabled the Formula 1 project to come to fruition. His successor, Gernot Döllne, would be much less enthusiastic about Formula 1.

The project might go to Porsche who would not start from scratch and will just take over from their colleagues. However, Audi denied these rumors (h/t PlanetF1) and in a statement said:

"Audi‘s F1 entry in 2026 is based on a decision of the Board of AUDI AG in alignment with the Supervisory Board of AUDI AG. As well as the Board and the Supervisory Board of Volkswagen Group.

"The schedule of Audi Formula Racing GmbH for the build-up of the organisation and the development of the 2026 F1 Power Unit at the site in Neuburg/Germany remains unchanged."

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Guanyu Zhou "excited" about James Key's arrival on Alfa Romeo F1 team

Alfa Romeo driver Guanyu Zhou stated that he was really excited to welcome James Key into the team heading into the next season where they will be rebranded back to Sauber.

He told Autosport:

"It's very refreshing for the team in general. The atmosphere doesn't change massively but just the way how we bring in new people. James works closely with Andreas which is nice in a way because Andreas is going to lead the works team in the future, so it sounds super exciting.

"He was quite happy to hear drivers' feedback, which is very clear just to be moving forward and to improve. It's key we [need] bigger changes to make the [2024] package a bigger step. So, I think that's what James is here for, we can be definitely heading in that direction in the future."

It will be fascinating to see if the team can make any progress before Audi takes over in 2026 so that they have a platform to challenge for championships in the future.

They are currently eighth in the Constructors' Championship with 16 points to their name.