Ingolstadt, Germany - Formula One remains an option for Audi, says chief executive Rupert Stadler amid speculation about a partnership with former world champion Red Bull.
“In life you must keep things open,” he said. “We're already well stuffed with successful motorsport projects. But with F1, wait and see. It's an option for Audi. Not at this moment, perhaps. But it is still an option.”
There has long been speculation about whether Audi might be tempted into Formula One, but it has grown louder now that Ferdinand Piech - who was seen as being strongly against F1 - has quit as chairman of parent company Volkswagen.
Audi last year recruited former Ferrari F1 team principal Stefano Domenicali, albeit not for an obvious motorsport role, making clear that the focus remained on Le Mans and the German Touring Car series.
However, the return of Audi stablemate Porsche to Le Mans as a works team, and Red Bull's fraught relationship with engine partner Renault, has left insiders wondering whether a repositioning of brands might be in the offing.
OPEN INVITATION
That talk was given further impetus on Monday when Red Bull motorsport consultant Helmut Marko, who is close to company owner Dietrich Mateschitz, sent what sounded like an open invitation to Audi.
“If we don't have a competitive engine in the near future,” he said, “then either Audi is coming or we are out.
“The Volkswagen Group first has to sort out who will run the VW brand and, when they have sorted all these things, maybe then they can think about what they are doing in motorsport.”
Red Bull has a contractual agreement to stay in Formula One until 2020, while its Renault contract runs until at least the end of 2016.
The team, which has won four consecutive titles with Renault from 2010 to 2013, has been vocal in its criticism of Renault’s V6 turbo hybrid engine, which has proved uncompetitive with Mercedes and Ferrari.
Team principal Christian Horner labelled the season a write-off after Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix, only the fifth of 19 races scheduled.
However, he stopped short of saying Red Bull could quit: “We want to try and sort the issues out,” he said when asked directly whether leaving the sport was a possibility. “The determination is to get back.”
Reuters