Audi Quits LMP1

[FW17]

Confirmed, Audi to end WEC involvement at the end of this season and enter as a full factory team in Formula E from next season.



Press release in German: https://www.audi-med...-statt-wec-6980

[dmjunqueira]

Terrible loss for the category...
Now Porsche has a lot of experienced drivers available to take Webber's seat next year.

[Manoah2u]

Interesting. Expect them to fully develop a powerful electric unit until 2020 and meanwhile design and develop a combustion engine fit for F1 in the form of a 4-cyl inline turbo
or a free choice for either a i4T, v6T, i5T, i4N/A, i5 N/A, V6 N/A with a engine displacement limit of 1200cc or perhaps as 'small as 1000cc.

I would welcome engine diversity as it would also cause bodywork design diversity; a V6T is wider than an i4T, and you get vastly different acoustics in case of a V6T with 1000cc
and a i5T with 1000 cc.

[Alexgtt]

Are we seeing the result of Bernie being sidelined by new F1 owners paving way for VW engine in the Red Bull? Surely the LMP1 budget isn't required for Formula E project. Lots left for F1 engine program?

[ME4ME]

Surely the LMP1 budget isn't required for Formula E project. Lots left for F1 engine program?

Thats exactly the reason they quit LMP1, they do not want to spend as much anymore. Audi's motorsport budget is about to shrink.

I doubt they will invest anything at all in F1 with declining viewing figures, new ownership, unknown PU future and unreasonable spending going on.

[flynfrog]

I think its more the fallout diesel gate. Audi is probably droping all of the diesel motors so racing one doesn't make much sense.

[Manoah2u]

I could actually imagine Dieselgate would be a great reason to actually step into F1, stepping away from WEC and LM diesel powered racecars to then step into first the for the public eye's 100% non-polluting electric engine race'world', and then stepping into the 'green-aimed' F1 world through Hybrid power and gaining attention with success there would be a perfect marketing tactic. Diverting attention from dieselgate 'conning' to a new challenge in F1 where lots of people are interested in where there is no diesel, but there is hybrid technology, which is a thing of now, and actually being competitive would make people swiftly all forget about dieselgate.

[Big Mangalhit]

I agree with those opinions, especially with that thread that states that really small engines will die after dieselgate. Maybe F1 engine is indeed the way of the future, small (1,4~1,6) turbo efficient petrol hybrids. Imagine what they could do with lower power targets and still have a 40 plus thermal efficiency. That and Bernie sidelined plus a bad PR moment for VW group may indicate the coming of Audi to F1.

[CBeck113]

I think its more the fallout diesel gate. Audi is probably droping all of the diesel motors so racing one doesn't make much sense.

Audi won't be quitting diesel, they may jsut wan tto avoid direct advertising through motorsport for a while. Here's a chart with the European sales of diesels along with the expected trend:

https://www.ft.com/content/94c56a30-347 ... 585c31b153

What the author forgot to mention is the falling fuel prices has been a major cause for the drop in diesel engines sold. Here is a prediction of the expected price growth:

http://www.globalpetrolprices.com/articles/51/

As fuel prices go up, so will the amount of diesels sold. Only when hybrids costs are on-par with normal cars will we see if the people want to pay the extra operating (service) costs for hybrids. Until then, and back on subject, Audi will continue to build and sell diesel-engined cars.

[noname]

Maybe F1 engine is indeed the way of the future, small (1,4~1,6) turbo efficient petrol hybrids. Imagine what they could do with lower power targets and still have a 40 plus thermal efficiency.

F1 powertrain is of, almost, no use in passenger car. Heavy duty application is its world.

[wesley123]

Even though it comes as a surprise it really isn't.

Porsche and Audi are both part of the VW group, and they are spending hundreds of millions in battling each other. This simply means that they are spending hundreds of millions to lose, because whatever way you look at it, one of them loses. Dieselgate means that diesels aren't as "hot" anymore which means that whatever different philosophies they had doesn't stand anymore. It's not worth it anymore to spend hundreds of millions to have those disgusting diesels win or lose.

[SR71]

I think the new E-Tron brand is a big factor in this decision.

Expect Audi's FE team to have E-Tron branding and marketing.

[Facts Only]

Its an obvious move, people I know who arent into motorsport have heard of Formula E (its the big new thing and gets some marketing), none of them have heard of WEC. Why compete in a sport that their target market have never heard of?

Also the bean counters have surely been having a feild day with the fact that one company is spending money on two teams to compete with itself.

VW in WRC, Audi in FE and Porsche at Le-Mans. Makes more sense. Bigger exposure for the group as a whole for the same or less cost.

I think the writing has been on the wall since Porsche rejoined LMP1, I bet a short overlap was always planned.

[Fulcrum]

Maybe they're simply retiring the inferior technology under the existing, and premised, rule-sets?

2011: Audi - 2nd
2012: Audi - 1st
2013: Audi - 1st
2014: Audi - 2nd; Porsche - 3rd (Toyota Hybrid winning)
2015: Audi - 2nd; Porsche - 1st
2016: Audi - 2nd; Porsche - 1st

I think VW's spending has been an excellent use of resources. They've been able to assess existing (Diesel) and more cutting edge (Hybrid) power trains in the wild, while spending way less than would have been the case had they jumped into F1. Both entrants were competitive, they've won championships, enjoyed increasing exposure, and avoided the bad publicity that is generated by lacking competitiveness (Nissan in LMP, Honda in F1).

The Diesel-gate crisis probably did necessitate a rationalisation of their Motorsport expenditure, and its very convenient they can 'drop' the diesel-based team, without losing their ability to win championships in this racing category.

The move to Formula-E is a savvy PR move in the context of their recent public faux-pas, but holds no major significance beyond advertising, unless the rules of that series are relaxed to allow greater competitive advancement of the battery technology.

[godlameroso]

Audi to F1 for 2018 confirmed Seriously maybe they want to get their hybrid and electric motor tech up to snuff before they go full works effort and back Red Bull who knows.