Audi reveals drawback of having no customer teams
Audi is batting against the odds to match Mercedes and Ferrari, with their customer team backing.
Team principal Jonathan Wheatley has conceded that F1 manufacturers with customers have a material advantage over Audi, which is “a long way” from being able to support a second team.
Audi joined the F1 grid this season after acquiring Sauber. Rather than come in as a customer and develop its own power unit for a later year, as is the case with Cadillac, Audi has hit the ground running with its own offering.
Despite scoring points on debut with Gabriel Bortoleto, Wheatley warned, “We have to be realistic,” with rivals Mercedes fielding a table-topping factory team and six customer cars, and Ferrari powering six cars in total.
“If you look at the mileages that Mercedes engine teams accrued over the winter testing, it’s something like four times the amount that we were able to, and we had a reliable programme, we still did a lot of mileage,” he said.
“So, they’re learning at a greater rate as well, so we have to be realistic about that.
“But then also, it’s early days in the project. We’ve talked about it for some time, that our ambition at the moment is to be a challenger and to move from challenger to competitive at the right time.
“In terms of the power unit, it’s incredibly complicated. It’s a bold ambition on behalf of Audi to show what they’re capable of in Formula 1. I’m sat next to Laurent [Mekies – Red Bull team principal], and he’s under no illusions about the challenge either.
“To make a modern power unit in Formula 1 is incredibly challenging, exciting, and the technology that we’re learning, we’re learning at such a rate, it’s incredible. So, it’s going to be interesting to see how the power units develop over the next few years and in the short term over the next few months.”
For any power unit manufacturer, there is a desire to supply a customer team, in order to gather exponentially more data and develop at an increased rate.
Of this prospect, Wheatley added: “I think we’re a long way away from being able to support a customer at the moment.”
Sam joined Crash.net in February 2026 with extensive experience in motorsport media, having covered numerous championships around the world.
