Audi's Formula 1 project has a number attached to it — 2030 — and Mattia Binotto is not backing away from it. The team principal and CEO, who spent three decades at Ferrari before taking on the Hinwil rebuild, says a championship fight by the end of the decade is realistic, even if today's grid position makes it sound bold.
His biggest battle, he revealed on the F1 Beyond The Grid podcast, is cultural rather than physical. New buildings and bigger budgets are the easy part; reprogramming a workforce raised to survive is the hard part.
"It's about transforming a team, it's not only building," Binotto said. "You need to change people's mindset, approach and behaviours to what's required. That's really the most difficult challenge — it's about culture transformation."
For 20 or 30 years, he explained, the old Sauber squad was conditioned not to spend. Reversing that instinct is, in his words, "the most difficult challenge we have at the moment."
The 2030 goal was declared publicly at Monza in 2024 with Audi boss Gernot Döllner. Binotto accepts it sounds distant in a sport addicted to instant gratification. "In F1 everything has to happen immediately," he said. "Five or six seasons is a long time. I know it's a very challenging one, but I believe it's possible. I believe that by 2030 we can do it."
He insists there is no superstar signing waiting to accelerate the plan. Asked if Audi needed an Adrian Newey figure, he replied: "No, we will grow internally. The complexity of an F1 vehicle is such that we don't believe a single person will make the difference. It will be more a team effort." The squad, he noted, is built around graduates — "the average age is very, very young. I'm the oldest."
There is genuine optimism about the chassis. "We believe that maybe we are even the fourth team in terms of chassis, which is an outstanding result," Binotto said. The weakness is the power unit: "Maybe the biggest gap is from the power-unit performance, controls and drivability. We believe that cannot be possible by '27, but to reach the right level by '28."
On Max Verstappen, the most-linked name in the paddock, Binotto closed the door for now. "We are not yet ready for it as a team," he said. "If Max would join, you need to offer him a platform where he can fight for victories." He is happy with what he has: Nico Hülkenberg, "always very honest, transparent, funny — no politics," and Gabriel Bortoleto, "humble, but with very high ambition."
And the first win? Racing director Allan McNish has promised a tattoo. Binotto won't be joining him. "No, no tattoo, sorry for that," he laughed. "But I will enjoy the moment."
Source: newsformula.one