Audi reconsiders competing in F1

Audi has set the motorsport rumour mill buzzing again with reports in Germany that it will attend the next Formula 1 engine regulation meeting.

Planned to narrow down engine regulations for 2021 and beyond, the FIA meeting is scheduled to be held in Paris today (Friday) and German website Spox.com insists Audi will have a representative there.

Audi withdrew from the World Endurance Championship at the end of the 2016 season after dominating the Le Mans 24 Hour race for nearly two decades.

FIA president hasn’t offered a lot of hope to those not enamoured with the current and expensive hybrid V6 engine regulations, insisting that the ear-splitting V10 would never come back.

“I realise this is a sensitive subject," he confided to Italian newspaper La Repubblica. "F1 is the flagship of the motorsport industry, and it must be in line with the technological developments of the industry.

"On the other hand, it must be a balance to keep it sustainable. The machines today are too sophisticated."

Audi was headed to Formula 1 until the costs of the Dieselgate crisis shattered the Volkswagen Group’s budget expectations. While it retains a presence in the German DTM touring car championship, it now prefers customer racing like GT racing.

Insiders insist Audi and the Volkswagen Group had been working on a 1.6-litre V6 turbo Formula 1 engine since early in 2015, though it has been shelved indefinitely.

The car-maker’s preferred strategy was to buy an existing Formula 1 operation outright to blend with its own in-house development, rather than building up an F1 operation from scratch.

The prime takeover targets were Red Bull Racing and its Italian-based junior team, Toro Rosso.