F1 News: Audi Manages Expectations - "No Final Product Until 2027"

With plenty of groundwork left to be done on a "growing" team, Sauber's, now under the name of Stake F1 Team, technical director James Key has revealed that the squad will be fully ready only by 2027 despite Audi's complete takeover in 2026. 

Priority is being given to hiring new talent behind the scenes, apart from expanding in all "key areas". But even with the existing workforce, the team plans to achieve plenty as they ready themselves for a fight on the track. 

The goal seems to be coinciding with Audi's entry into the sport in 2026. But despite the takeover, Key has reveals that it won't be until 2027 under the current plan for the brand to reach the "final product".

Key previously worked with Sauber between 2010 to 2012 so has plenty of experience within its confines. When asked by Autosport.com about the team's situation, he revealed:

“In terms of next steps, there's a very significant well-documented plan.

“We're already acting on it. And attracting all the right talent to the team to join some very good talent that's already there is obviously a priority that we're working on hard in the background.

“There is a lead time to people of course, with garden periods. So we're aware of that. We're certainly not waiting for that, there's a lot of stuff we can do now without any extra people and so on.

“But ultimately, to achieve our goals, we have to expand in all the key areas, and in fact in all areas. Everywhere has got to take a step up regardless of where we are in that process.

“So that's the short-term ambition, exactly what we're doing now, working closely with Andreas [Seidl] on that for '24, as well as the future. And then we'll see how we go.

“I think ultimately, we're probably not going to be the final product that we're aiming for until about '27 time really, because there is a lot to do. But we'll be in far better shape as we approach '26. And that will give us the opportunity to take the step forward we need to."

Key added that there's a lot of potential within the growing, young team to grow under the stability the current shareholder offers. He said:

"The team is growing, it's actually a very young team, despite the fact that I feel very old now in Sauber, I felt quite young when I joined it before! But it is still growing.

“I think the period of stability it's had with the current major shareholder has been very good for it indeed. And it's been able to grow under that condition. And now it's got, of course, exciting future steps to take in the very near future as well.

“I think a lot of it is kind of consolidating what it has. I think being a relatively new member of the team now you can see where there's potential, you can kind of recognise there's a gap there that we can fill pretty easily with the talent we have in the team, or with the facilities we have on the team already.”