Audi admits that it will not be the best F1 engine in 2026

Will be important for next 12 months Save The team is preparing to become Audi’s factory team, with the outfits for the arrival of the new rules of Formula 1. The Audi engine will develop, which F1 lead Matia Binoto warns that there will not be “best” on the grid.

For 2026, Formula 1 will roll new rules to make its cars more agile. The new engine rules will increase the use of electrical energy in a grand prix to help the series become more durable.

With the new engine regulations, F1 will also welcome new engine manufacturers, with Audi and Ford – through a partnership with Red Bull – will be set to join from 2026 and from Cadilac to 2029 later.

“I know this well because I know it well because I was an engine engineer – more than one complex and complex, who can imagine the race as an audience,” Binoto said, who is head of Audi’s F1 project, said in a special interview in a special interview.

Binoto worked first Ferrari As it navigated the final major engine shakeup of the series, which came in 2014 with the introduction of the current-generation V6 hybrid power units.

“Now, however, we are entering some extremely advanced that has never been done. Therefore, we will find high levels of difficulty, even if the initial point is always an engine. We have to change the engine culture and it will not be easy.”

The new rules require 50–50 partitions in the power produced by the internal combustion unit and electrical components. The complex MGU-H, which harms thermal energy from the combustion engine, is being removed, and the motors will all need to be run on 100% sustainable fuel.

These comprehensive changes are providing a challenge for engine manufacturers, and Binoto accepts that Audi is no different.

“We are focusing on ourselves,” he said. “We know that 2026 will not be the year in which we will be at the top. We will not have the best power unit, but the way taken is correct, I believe.”

Adjacent rules change can also open new avenues of the competition, as teams will say what fuel they use in their new engines. Options including e-fuel and biofuel are available, which adds binotto, means that in 2026, fuel will become a separate factor “for teams.

Interestingly, Audi may have a leg in this regard as its original company, Volkswagen Group, has a history with e-fuel. Through its Porsche brand, the company is investing heavily in permanent petrol options and has supported a production site in Chile.

The project, which was closed in 2023, may help Audi’s performance in the next season, but Binoto admitted that they have heard “rumors” that a team can once again change the sweeping power unit: MercedesThe German organization is allegedly a step over the rest of the rest, and Binoto has warned that the steps for New Motors can once again kickstart the duration of dominance for a team.

“In 2014, when a more important hybrid was introduced on the power unit, it was initially an engine championship,” he says. “Because Mercedes distinguished. This is a situation that can happen again and those who have to fix will try to do so.”

Of course, this does not mean that the weather is once again having a Mercedes clean sweep. And we will not really know how new power units stand until the lights go out of the 2026 season.

One thing is sure, although. The 2026 will be a twist in the history of the save team, which last won the F1 race in 2008 when he competed under another German brand: BMW.