Binotto admits turning Audi into F1 winners will be ‘like climbing Everest’ as he sets out timeline for success

Mattia Binotto has opened up on the challenge ahead of him as Audi’s new Formula 1 chief, likening the planned transformation of the current Sauber operation into race winners and title challengers to climbing Mount Everest.

German car manufacturer Audi took full ownership of Sauber earlier this year, prior to making it their works F1 team from the 2026 season, with an all-new power unit being developed in-house.

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In July, a restructuring of the project was announced that saw former Ferrari Team Principal Binotto join as Chief Operating and Chief Technical Officer – taking over from departing CEO Andreas Seidl and Audi executive Oliver Hoffmann.

Officially starting work on August 1, Binotto has spent time at the Sauber factory in Hinwil, Switzerland, Audi’s own facility in Neuburg, Germany, as well as appearing trackside, and he is under no illusions regarding the size of the task.

“It’s not only climbing a big mountain, it’s climbing Everest,” Binotto told BBC Sport. “It will take several years. Our objective is by the end of the decade to be able to fight for the championships.”

Binotto served as Ferrari’s team boss until 2019, after three years in the job, having been with the Scuderia since the mid-1990s and gradually worked his way up the ranks.

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With that reference point in mind, he continued: “When you are here and you start looking into the details, the more you look, the more you realise where you are and what are the main differences to what I knew from before from Ferrari.

“Certainly the gap and the differences are many and the gap is big. It’s big because of dimensions, because of number of people, because of mindset, because of tools, facilities. Whatever you look around, it is really comparing a small team to a top team.”

Sauber have fallen to the very back of the F1 field in 2024 and remain the only squad yet to score a point with just six rounds to go – and Binotto reckons the transition taking place in the background is playing a role.

“When Audi bought some shares and had the programme to become the full owner in the future, internally some plans have been done, some strategic plans have been discussed and established but not yet come to execution,” he commented. “So Sauber have been remaining in a limbo for a while.

“Second, certainly let’s say some of the focus and energies were put towards 2026, to try to make sure Audi was ready to start in 2026, and that took off some energy on the normal development path for 2024 and 2025.”

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Amid speculation to the contrary, Binotto also stressed that Audi joined F1 “to be here and stay here” and will do so “until we win and after”, describing it as a “long-term commitment” to the sport.

“We intend to become a winning team and to set the benchmark and to stay then,” he said. “It is not a joining and leaving. F1 is the pinnacle of the motorsport, it is great Audi is part of it finally and they are simply committed to stay.”