F1 News: Eddie Jordan Rips Apart Audi's Decision - Predicts Failure

Saajan Jogia | Aug 2, 2024

Audi F1 / Audi Press Image

Former F1 team owner Eddie Jordan has slammed Audi for its "fundamentally wrong" choice of having its team base in Switzerland, as it gears up for its official Formula 1 entry in 2026. Jordan suggested the UK as an ideal location, considering the easy and quick availability of resources and most importantly, Britain's racing culture.

He questions whether Switzerland’s business environment can meet demanding timelines in Formula 1, especially for rapid parts procurement, a feature that is otherwise easily offered by the UK's established motorsport infrastructure.

Audi has shifted its F1 project to a higher gear as it began making managerial level changes in the team it takes over in 2026- Sauber. The German manufacturer removed Andreas Seidl, the head of their F1 operations, and chairman Oliver Hoffmann, in a strategic overhaul to pave the way for former Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto. Additionally, it poached Red Bull’s sporting director, Jonathan Wheatley, who will join Binotto to create a dual leadership structure starting next year.

Expressing his displeasure with Audi's decision, Jordan said in the Formula For Success podcast:

“I have a question mark over Audi in the full stop.

“You and I are particularly good friends with Allan McNish [Audi motorsport director of coordination] and we wish him well there, but that’s a big, big task he’s taken on, big, big operation. To build a car, to run it out of Switzerland, with manufacturing, it’s a big, big, big ask.

“When did you last see a Swiss or a German [based] team win a world title?

“We saw what Toyota did. They came in, they tried to do it that way and then it didn’t work. And the amount of teams that has done, it’s cost fortunes.

“And so it’s a big ask. And I have to say there is no better way to run a race car than through Britain and particularly in that area of Northampton, Oxfordshire and various other places. They’ve just got such a wealth of knowledge. They’ve just got such a mindset of being able to win or to achieving or getting the best.

“And the suppliers in the region understand the complexities and the timeframes that people are on there. Whereas, you know, you go out and you order a piece of machinery to be done in Switzerland. They will give you a timeline of maybe needing four days, four weeks, four months and there’s nothing you can do.

“Whereas if you’re in the UK, you would just sit on top of that supplier and say, ‘If you don’t do this, you just don’t get any more work. So you better drop everything and do it.’ And they work night and day to get it done.

“So that’s the philosophy that there is a racing culture, it’s in the DNA, and I think what Audi are doing is fundamentally wrong.”

Jordan also expressed disappointment that Sauber has not won a race for an extended period. Notably, it is the only team on the grid currently that has yet to score any points this season. He added:

“It shouldn’t also go unnoticed that the team that they bought, which is Sauber, which I adore Peter Sauber [founder] as a person, but nice people don’t win anything.

“The unfortunate thing is that Peter hasn’t won anything in terms of winning Grands Prix.

“But [what] he has failed to do even this year, which must be a big embarrassment for him, is that they are the only team without a point. And having said that, they are absolutely last. And that’s no great joy and I’m disappointed for them.”