ANALYSIS: Why Audi have turned to former Ferrari man Binotto to lead their F1 charge

Just four months after expanding their commitment to Formula 1 by completing a full takeover of Swiss operation Sauber, Audi have moved to make sweeping changes to the senior leadership team ahead of their arrival in the sport in 2026.

In comes Mattia Binotto, who has been out of F1 since leaving Ferrari at the end of 2022, and out goes CEO Andreas Seidl and Chairman of the Board of Directors Oliver Hoffmann.

READ MORE: Audi announce former Ferrari chief Binotto as new F1 boss as Seidl departs

It’s a remarkable turn of events given Seidl only joined the project at the start of 2023 after a long chase from the German manufacturer that resulted in him parting ways with McLaren.

However, after 18 months in the job – and only four months after he was officially given the Audi F1 Team CEO title – Audi have decided he isn’t the right person to lead the project.

Sauber are enduring a miserable season so far. The Swiss outfit are the only team to have failed to score a point all year and thus sit bottom of the constructors’ championship.

While the squad secured Nico Hulkenberg’s long-term commitment to the Audi project from 2025, they have so far failed in their bid to get number one target Carlos Sainz to put pen to paper.

READ MORE: Audi expands commitment to Formula 1 with 100% takeover of Sauber

Seidl has tried to stay out of the limelight since taking the job, instead preferring to work behind the scenes at the factory to create a plan to build up and restructure the operation while letting Alessandro Alunni Bravi be the face of the team at race weekends.

However, it is believed Audi did not feel that Seidl was doing a good enough job, quickly enough and thus decided to part ways.

There have been changes in the upper echelons of Volkswagen/Audi since Seidl first started talking to them about coming onboard, including Gernot Dollner replacing Markus Duesmann as CEO last September.

And just four months after Oliver Hoffmann moved from head of Audi’s Technical Department to the newly-created position of General Representative, Audi decided to part ways with him, too.

Discussions between Audi and Binotto have been going on for some time now with the Italian – who spent 27 years with Ferrari – keen to find a path back to Formula 1 as he had unfinished business.

READ MORE: ‘So far, we have achieved all the targets’ – Audi provide update on 2026 power unit development

After taking some time out he embarked on a role with Italian automotive company TEXA – however, he kept his eye on F1 and sources say he had talks with Aston Martin, and Alpine, as well as Audi.

Ultimately, the German manufacturer’s foray into F1 proved to be exactly the project he wanted – something he could build up from scratch using his near three decades of experience at Ferrari, which included having great success heading the engine department.

Binotto will take on the newly-created role of Chief Operating and Chief Technical Officer, in charge of running the Formula 1 team, which in theory should give him the support to implement his plan.

It is likely Binotto will spend the coming months assessing the infrastructure and team before working out how he wants to build out the structure of the outfit.

Only recently, Audi announced a significant number of job advertisements as they look to grow the workforce by several hundred to match the firepower of F1’s big teams.

READ MORE: Hulkenberg ‘very excited’ by Audi project as he sees opportunity for manufacturer to be competitive ‘straight away’

In making the decision now, Binotto will have 18 months to finalise preparations for Audi’s full arrival into Formula 1 in 2026.

Company chiefs hope his appointment can help the team speed up their rebuild and preparations, their recruitment of a second driver for 2025 and beyond, and improve the fortunes of the Sauber team in the short term to ensure Audi can be competitive as soon as possible in F1.