Aston Martin has not ruled out teaming up with Audi should the German brand enter Formula 1 in 2026.
As the impact of this year’s new regulations is felt, plenty of attention is already on the sport’s next big overhaul in four years’ time, when power unit and chassis changes are set to be introduced.
On the power unit side, the current 1.6-litre V6 will be retained but electrical power will be increased by up to 50% despite the removal of the MGU-H, while 100% sustainable fuel will be used, up from the current 10%.
Those changes, along with a budget cap on power unit development, are intended to attract new manufacturers to F1 and both Audi and Porsche are considered near-certainties to confirm their 2026 entries when the final regulations are agreed.
Though Porsche is being heavily linked to a partnership with Red Bull Powertrains, Audi’s potential involvement is still unclear with talk the company may go it alone by launching their own works team.
A rumoured takeover of McLaren has long been denied by the Woking-based company, but now Lawrence Stroll’s Aston Martin team has emerged as another option either as a partner or as a potential takeover.
Asked about the possibility at Imola, Aston Martin team boss Mike Krack certainly didn’t rule out the possibility of working with Audi.
“I think for any team who has not a manufacturer on his side it’s super-appealing to have this possibility,” he said.
“So I think we would be lying if we say we are not interested in something like that. So I would be very interested to talk.”
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Aston Martin has been close partners with Mercedes since 2009 – when the team was Force India – but a spokesperson also confirmed an open-minded view about their future engine supplier.
“We are happy with our current power unit partner Mercedes-Benz, to whom we are contracted for some years yet. Mercedes-Benz’s F1 power unit is a good one,” they said.
“We have no alternative plans at this time – however, you should never say never in F1 and we are actively exploring options with our new strategic partner Aramco.”
Audi also has other potential interest from Sauber, who currently races under the Alfa Romeo name, Williams who was bought by Dorilton Capital in 2020 and even the potential Andretti team entry into F1.
All this though is still subject to final approval from the VW Group that owns both Porsche and Audi, something Mercedes boss Toto Wolff was keen to highlight.
“It’s great if the Volkswagen Group joins F1,” he said.
“Fantastic brand, it increases the credibility of what we do and they are racers. But as far as I understand, there is no firm commitment yet.
“They’ve been sitting on the table for the regulations, but [while] that commitment isn’t actually confirmed, we can’t really know what the plans are.
“I think that it’s not clear yet who actually enters as a power unit supplier, and who declares themselves as newcomers.
“It could well be that there are three companies from the same group that are entering as newcomers. How can I say? The picture is still very unclear.”