Audi Formula 1 chief Mattia Binotto is expecting his team to have an inferior power unit compared to its more established rivals in the forthcoming 2026 campaign.
The German marque will make its debut as both an F1 team and engine supplier this year, after completing a takeover of Sauber to become a full factory works’ outfit.
It coincides with what is arguably the biggest rule change in the championship’s history: 2026 will introduce a lighter and smaller chassis, while power units are now more electrical with a near-50:50 split alongside the internal combustion engine.
Such drastic changes therefore make it hard to predict the 2026 pecking order - Sauber’s next-to-bottom finish in last year’s standings is obsolete - but it is still expected that the more established teams will start strong.
That particularly includes Mercedes and its customers, having dominated the last engine change in 2014, while Ferrari and Honda also boast more experience than the two other power unit suppliers in Audi and Red Bull Powertrains - both of which make their debut in 2026.
So Binotto is expecting that to play a decisive role this year, having spoken at Audi’s season launch event in Berlin on Tuesday: “They've got the most experience, they are a settled down organisation.
“If a team or a manufacturer was great in the past, it will remain great in the future - that's no doubt. It will be a very difficult challenge for us.
“So I'm not expecting our powertrain to be the best since the very start. That would be impossible, that would be unrealistic. But I think we are on our journey and we need to stay focused on ourselves.”
One area that Binotto thinks could hold Audi back is the compression ratio drama, which has been a developing story through the off-season thanks to Mercedes and Red Bull Powertrains allegedly finding a loophole in the power unit regulations.
It states that measurements of the compression ratio, reduced from 18:1 to 16:1, will only be taken after the working cycle due to the practical difficulties of doing it while the engine is still running.
So Mercedes and Red Bull are said to be using conrod materials, which have thermal expansion properties that yield an increase in compression ratio at operating temperature.
“It's the fight in Formula 1, it's part of our job,” said Binotto. “It would not be normal that we are not fighting each other and, I don't know if it's true or not.
"There are only rumours at the moment that Mercedes may have designed an engine such that the compression ratio can be high and higher in hot conditions - but that's not me to prove.
"If it's real, first it is certainly a significant gap in terms of performance and lap time and certainly that would make a difference when we come to competition on track."
Despite this, however, Binotto is still confident that Audi can one day become an F1 front runner and the goal is for it to happen in the team’s fifth campaign.
“I think we've got all the means to become one day successful and become the benchmark for the powertrain as well,” said the ex-Ferrari team principal.
“What's our task? Our task: to become successful by 2030. It may be perceived as a long way, but it's not. It's tomorrow or the day after and we are really focused on ourselves, staying humble.
“We know that we may face problems during the season. We may face reliability issues or failures. But what will count the most for me is, again, the team reacting properly.
“It's no stones unturned, learning from the problems, showing capacity in progressing and if we will be capable of progressing race by race, no doubt that a day with all the means we've got, with the commitment of Audi as a brand, we may become as strong as the others, if not better.”
