Audi to supply Red Bull?

Please God let this turn out to be true! There is talk in the German media of Red Bull racing hooking up with Audi in 2008 as an engine supplier, Gerhard Berger a friend of both the head of Red Bull & VW Audi is also believed to be involved. The story transpires that Audi will be out of DTM racing in at the end of 2007, Opel are pulling out after 2006, and intend to use 2007 a development year before launching in 2008. Speculation even extends to VW Audi producing a non Audi “badged” engine & running it with the Torro Rosso squad too develop the unit in a racing environment, before bolting on to the back of a Adrian Newey car as early as 2007 or as late as 2009! A non badged engine is not entirely unheard of, early 90’s Yamaha units were a front for Toyota’s original aborted F1 attempt. Long term engine preparations for F1 entries are standard practice these days, BMW spent all of 1998 & 1999 developing their engine away from F1 before coming in with William’s in 2000 & Toyota’s two years of solid pre-entry testing on chassis & engine started with a V12!

If Audi were to enter the post 2008 world of F1 it would make a lot sense. Firstly, by that time the official FIA series will have settled down with team commitments to the FIA or a break away series would be up & running. Thus, in the coming seasons Audi would be in a be in a perfect position to judge where it should be entering a F1 effort. Secondly, entering the sport with Red Bull makes sound financial sense. After all, why go down the expensive Toyota build from scratch route or the equally expensive top dollar buyout of an existing team. a.k.a Honda/BAT or BMW/Sauber, when you can provide a block to a Adrian Newey designed flyer? Further, having rewritten Le Mans history with it’s sports car programme (how that must get up the noses of Mercedes & Toyota management) and having succeeded in every category it has ever competed in, rally, touring & sports prototypes, how long can Audi ignore the presence of the other two big German giants participation in F1?

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As much as I would love this, I don't know how true it could be. F1 is no joke, so Audi would have to spend lots of money to make a competitive engine for Red Bull. By the time they entered, the competition would have a leg up on them in R&D on the new engines as well. At the same time, they have the new Le Mans car debuting next season as well. Only time will tell what will become of this story, but I know Audi was not too keen on entering open wheel racing in the past.

This move makes sense for Red Bull though, because it seems in this day and age, you need a manufacturer to behind your engine in order to be at the top. We'll see how Cosworth does with Williams next year, but I can't Ferrari allowing Red Bull to be a number one team with their engines. I can't wait for next season; the suspsense is already killing me.

Audi has a lot of past experience with V8 engines. Perhaps now that the development costs are down due to the new regulations it's the right time to enter the F1 world.

I wouldn't be suprised to see a full VW/Audi F1 team in the near future so this is very possible.

Yeah it seems Audi has some experience with V8s, but I think moreso Mercedes and Cosworth do. We'll see how things pan out in the future.