Leadership Struggles Stir Trouble at Audi’s F1 Project

Leadership struggles have stirred trouble at Audi’s F1 project and in this week’s Business of Motorsport you will learn the details. I also have an opinion on how the “F1” film could be F1’s “Barbie moment”, the future of London’s Formula E E-Prix and NASCAR’s international expansion plans. All this plus the latest sponsorship deals and partnerships in the Business of Motorsport Roundup on Motorsport Prospects.

Motorsport Industry News

Formula 1

Audi F1

They are not even on the grid yet but rumors are circulating of a civil war brewing at Audi Sport between CEO Andreas Seidl and Chief Representative Oliver Hoffmann over the leadership of their F1 project.

“So in its essence, the two most senior members of Audi’s F1 takeover of Sauber allegedly have the same idea of who best to steer the team in 2026 and beyond (Krack), but neither party wants the other to get the credit and would sooner see them removed entirely.”

If you think trouble at the top of one team is an issue, try the whole F1 grid. That’s the opinion of McLaren Team Principal Zak Brown who feels that the teams have too much power over the sport’s governance.

“To take this kind of ‘what’s good for me today’ vote out of the system, I think you’ve just got to stand back and let the FIA and Formula 1 regulate for the fairness of the sport. Which means you’re going to win some, lose some. There could be some times that we lose in the short-term, because we would have liked to block something.”

SpeedCafe reports that Ford Motorsport boss Mark Rushbrook has revealed that F1 is already discussing the sound the championship will have beyond 2026 when the new hybrids come on board with a greater emphasis on electrification. But they won’t sound like Formula E cars.

“The intention is to make sure in the new regulation the engine [sound] itself will be higher because that’s part of our emotion,” he told 3AW. “It is really what our fans want to hear and that’s the duty for us to commit to that.”

Business of Motorsport

While producers are disputing its $300 million price tag, Alex Kalinauckas in Autosport Plus argues that “F1” the movie starring Brad Pitt and produced by Lewis Hamilton is arguably F1’s “Barbie moment.”

“But in getting audiences to take their popcorn into this story, F1 is hoping F1 will swell its consumer base and make it less niche. It’s simply the next step on the ‘Drive to Survive’ marketing journey enacted under Liberty Media.”

Blinkfire Analytics has more interesting stats after the British Grand Prix that highlight the impact of Lewis Hamilton’s win. “Three of the four most engaging posts from last week across Formula 1, its teams, and drivers feature the British driver. This demonstrates Hamilton’s media power, popularity, and continued status as one of the sport’s most influential figures.”

The Spomotion Analytics Formula 1 Partnership Network Analysis Report 2024 is now available. This comprehensive 164-page report offers in-depth analyses, graphics, and insights into the partners and sponsors of Formula 1 for the 2024 season. More details can be found here.

Formula E

Formula E

As Formula E enters its final race of their Season 11, there has been no shortage of news regarding the championship. The Race looks at what new majority owner Liberty Global means for Formula E. “I think the valuation now of that portfolio is over $3billion in value and growing, and what their investment means for them is they’re doubling down on what they think is a fast growth stock within their venture portfolio,” Formula E CEO Jeff Dodds tells The Race.

With the final race taking place in London where sustainability is taking center stage, the series has embarked on an interesting experiment to test the popularity of the series in the country that they are headquartered in and where a number of teams are based. They are going to broadcast the final races on free-to-air television in the UK.

“There’s a test happening in London, where it’s on TNT, but the actual race itself is also being broadcast on Quest, which is the free-to-air channel for Warner Bros. Discovery. So I’m going to see how that goes. I know they’re very interested to see how that goes.  We’ll kind of regroup and discuss the outcome of that test at the end of London and see what it might mean for next year.”

But what of the future of the race in London? Dodds has indicated that there are a number of options on the table including potential street races or racing at Silverstone or Brands Hatch.

“But we’re probably at a point where we’re right at the limits of what the track can allow us. It’s a shorter circuit, it’s a tight circuit, it’s got that slightly funky bit where you go inside to outside, which is a bit of a bottleneck. We’ve got Gen3 Evo coming, we don’t really want to be racing on a circuit where you’re depowering the cars, so we’re right at the edge of it.”

Finally, the Formula E Notebook reports that Michael Andretti believes that the current cost cap in Formula E needs to come down. “Once the numbers go up then you can justify the spending more. I think right now it’s a little out whack; the spending is here but the justification is here and they need to go that way. So yeah, I’d push for less even. It’s 13 million I think it should be down to around ten million in my opinion.”

General Motorsport Industry News

Leadership Struggles Stir Trouble at Audi's F1 Project

As NASCAR implements an executive shakeup to better prepare itself for the future, the series is setting its sights on international expansion. “We’re still working on the 2025 schedule,” Chad Seigler, NASCAR’s chief international officer said. “If you talk to anyone in the industry, there’s kind of what I feel like is a universal understanding that we need to start expanding outside of the U.S.”

As they unveiled their Dakar challenger with a stated intention to “own” rallying, Ford wants to keep the “opportunity to compete as a manufacturer” in the World Rally Championship in the future but has highlighted a need for an open set of 2027 regulations.

“At the launch, Ford Performance Motorsports global director Mark Rushbrook stated that he wants the marque to “own” rallying and says that the brand wants to commit to the WRC beyond 2026 if the future of Rally1 and Rally2 is “right for everybody”.”

Sokol International Racetrack

As MotoGP cancels the Kazakhstan Grand Prix for a second time, Autosport‘s Oriol Puigdemont argues that the series cannot afford a repeat of this fiasco.

“Most players involved in the championship agree that the current situation deserves some reflection, to avoid embarrassing situations such as those that have been occurring. Obviously, an itinerant series which travels across five continents can be affected by unexpected events such as, for example, the change of government which forced the suspension of the Argentinean Grand Prix.”

The British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) has opened applications for two new teams from next season. “For the last six years I’ve said many times that, ideally, I’d like to cap our numbers to around 24 cars for several different reasons – not least of which is to support our teams by utilizing the sound commercial principle of maintaining ‘supply’ just below ‘demand’ in order to underpin their entries and investment,” said Alan Gow, chief executive of BTCC.”

“With that in mind, I’ve opened the door for expressions of interest from up to two, two-car teams who are looking to join the championship from 2025. With high and consistent levels of quality and competitiveness throughout the current grid, the final number could then be capped at 24 cars/TBLs.”

Japanese rally-raid driver Shinsuke Umeda has argued that the FIA ​​is using the Dakar Rally as bait to forcibly unify rally raids which he feels is causing problems both logistically and financially for competitors.

“In a series of posts on X, formerly Twitter, Shinsuke Umeda opined bringing together major rally raids around the world under a single banner is stretching teams’ resources thin while poor marketing provides little incentive for them to race on a regular basis. Despite finishing runner-up in the 2023 SSV standings, he has only run the season-opening Dakar Rally so far in 2024 due to these factors.”

Quick Takes on the Business of Motorsport This Week

Stratford Park

Motorsport Law Roundup

A look at some of the legal and regulatory issues and analysis in Motorsport this week

Haas F1

Former Haas title sponsor Uralkali claims that the team has failed to pay a refund it is owed, plus delivery of a Formula 1 car, relating to its cancelled deal. “A letter sent by Uralkali to Haas in early July providing options for the delivery of the race car to take place went unanswered.  Further interest on the awarded sum continues to accrue.”

The main question I have is that, assuming Uralkali is on the United States government’s list of sanctioned companies, and as Haas F1 is an American company, would paying out the arbitral award be considered doing business with a sanctioned Russian company?

Motorsport Sponsorship & Partnership News

Here are the latest motorsport sponsorship deals, partnerships and related analysis that were announced this week

Audi BP partnership
Business of Motorsport

Team & Manufacturer News

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Peugeot 9X8
Haas F1
Prema Racing
Business of Motorsport
Mark Boudreau
Author: Mark Boudreau

Mark is the publisher of Motorsport Prospects. As a former lawyer, he applies his legal background and research skills to assist race drivers by showcasing the resources they need to make their motorsport careers happen.