mas de la misma notícia por otra vía, hablan de suministrar motores al equipo RED BULL
There is talk in the German media of Red Bull racing hooking up with Audi in 2008 as an engine supplier, Gerhard Berger a friend of both the head of Red Bull & VW Audi is also believed to be involved.
The story transpires that Audi will be out of DTM racing at the end of 2007, Opel are pulling out after 2006, and intend to use 2007 as a development year before launching an F1 program in 2008.
Speculation even extends to VW Audi producing a non-Audi "badged" engine & running it with the Torro Rosso squad too develop the unit in a racing environment, before bolting on to the back of a Adrian Newey car as early as 2007 or as late as 2009! A non-badged engine is not entirely unheard of; early 90's Yamaha units were a front for Toyota’s original aborted F1 attempt. Long term engine preparations for F1 entries are standard practice these days. BMW spent all of 1998 & 1999 developing their engine away from F1 before coming in with Williams in 2000 & Toyota's two years of solid pre-entry testing on chassis & engine started with a V12!
If Audi were to enter the post 2008 world of F1 it would make a lot sense. Firstly, by that time the official FIA series will have settled down with team commitments to the FIA or a break away series would be up & running. Thus, in the coming seasons Audi would be in a perfect position to judge where it should be entering a F1 effort.
Secondly, entering the sport with Red Bull makes sound financial sense. After all, why go down the expensive Toyota build-from-scratch route or the equally expensive top dollar buyout of an existing team (i.e. Honda/BAT or BMW/Sauber) when you can provide a block to a Adrian Newey designed flyer? Further, having rewritten Le Mans history with it's sports car program (how that must get up the noses of Mercedes & Toyota management) and having succeeded in every category it has ever competed in - rally, touring & sports prototypes - how long can Audi ignore the presence of the other two big German giants in F1?
Audi have stated publicly in the past that they would not consider F1 at its current costs.
;-)
