Qatar Funding Authority has introduced will probably be a ‘long-term investor and associate’ to Audi’s F1 crew from 2026.
The sovereign wealth fund of Qatar is buying a “vital minority stake” in what’s going to turn into Audi’s Method 1 works crew from 2026, in a deal introduced Friday earlier than the Qatar Grand Prix.
A joint assertion stated the Qatar Funding Authority can be “a long-term investor and associate” and supply “a considerable capital injection” that may assist the crew broaden its infrastructure.
The crew is presently competing as Sauber and can be rebranded because the Audi works outfit for 2026 after it reached an settlement for a full takeover earlier this yr.
“This extra capital will speed up the crew’s development and is one more milestone on our long-term technique,” Audi chief government Gernot Dollner stated within the joint assertion.
Qatar Funding Authority has agreed to amass a big minority stake in Sauber, forward of the squad changing into Audi’s manufacturing unit crew in 2026 📝#F1 #QatarGPhttps://t.co/SNEfQnC7eB
— Method 1 (@F1) November 29, 2024
Qatar is already an investor within the Volkswagen Group, of which Audi is part. “QIA believes that Method 1 is a sport with vital untapped funding potential,” QIA chief government Mohammed Saif al-Sowaidi stated.
“The growing commercialisation {of professional} sports activities as an leisure providing globally, and the more and more world recognition of Method 1, has made for an thrilling alternative for our first main motorsports funding.”
Sauber is altering each its drivers for 2025, as Nico Hulkenberg and rookie Gabriel Bortoleto arrive to exchange Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu.
