Wolff: Audi as new entrant could deliver extra value for F1 grid
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff thinks Audi's interest in entering Formula 1 would warrant expanding the grid to 11 teams as it could likely bring extra value to all existing outfits.


US racing stalwart Michael Andretti's bid to expand his multi-series operation to F1 has been met by fierce resistance from most of the discipline's current 10 entrants.
Concerned teams are weary of having to share F1's prize money with an additional competitor and feel the current $200 million dilution fund is not sufficient as the value of owning an F1 entry has significantly increased since that price was set, owing to the sport's burgeoning global interest and the newly implemented budget cap.
But amid interest of Audi joining the sport, Mercedes chief Wolff believes the German manufacturer's size and marketing power would make it a more suitable 11th entrant than Andretti, even as the American outfit has become a global powerhouse active across IndyCar, Formula E, Extreme E and Australian Supercars.
Asked explicitly in light of the uncertainty over the Andretti team's situation whether a new entry from Audi would change the perspective of existing teams, Wolff said: "I think that whoever joins as the 11th team, whoever gets an entry, needs to demonstrate how creative they can be for the business.
"Andretti is a great name, and I think they have done exceptional things in the US. But this is sport and this is business and we need to understand what is it that you can provide to the sport.
"And if an OEM or an international, multinational group joins F1 and can demonstrate that they are going to spend X amount of dollars in activating, in marketing in the various markets; that's obviously a totally different value proposition for all the other teams."

Michael Andretti, Chief Executive Officer & Chairman Andretti Autosport
Photo by: Andreas Beil
Wolff says F1 wants to continue increasing its value over the coming years and thinks any new entrants must contribute to that process.
"With 10 franchises that we hope can increase the value, and you're certainly not going to increase the value by just issuing new franchises to people that cannot increase the overall value of Formula 1."
In addition to Audi, VW Group sister marque Porsche is close to agreeing a significant shareholding and power unit supply deal with Red Bull Racing from 2026, when F1's new engine rules come into play.
Meanwhile, Red Bull's current engine partner Honda, which has officially left F1 but still cooperates with the Milton Keynes outfit, is considering re-joining F1 in 2026 as the sport shifts to sustainable fuels and a simplified hybrid system.
Related video

F1 revenues boosted by 49% as series emerges from COVID-19 pandemic
Alpine confident it will beat Aston Martin while Alonso is there

Latest news
FIA finalises 2026 Formula 1 engine regulations
The FIA has finally approved the wording of the 2026 Formula 1 power unit regulations, which in turn paves the way for Porsche to enter in partnership with Red Bull.
F1 porpoising and roll hoop rules changes ratified by FIA
The FIA's World Motorsport Council has approved changes to the floor regulations in Formula 1 to prevent the porpoising phenomenon seen this year.
How one of F1's greatest names was revived
With its eponymous Formula 1 team falling into obscurity in the 90s, the Brabham name looked relegated to the manufacturers' history books. But after a long legal battle, the family reclaimed its rights and in 2018 launched Brabham Automotive. David Brabham discusses what came next for the iconic brand
Tsunoda gives himself 7/10 for start to F1 2022 season
Yuki Tsunoda believes he has made a measurable improvement as a driver during his second season in Formula 1, rating his year to date as seven out of 10.
Nicholas Latifi: The under-fire F1 driver fighting for his future
Personable, articulate and devoid of the usual racing driver airs and graces, Nicholas Latifi is the last Formula 1 driver you’d expect to receive death threats, but such was the toxic legacy of his part in last year’s explosive season finale. And now, as ALEX KALINAUCKAS explains, he faces a battle to keep his place on the F1 grid…
The strange tyre travails faced by F1’s past heroes
Modern grand prix drivers like to think the tyres they work with are unusually difficult and temperamental. But, says MAURICE HAMILTON, their predecessors faced many of the same challenges – and some even stranger…
The returning fan car revolution that could suit F1
Gordon Murray's Brabham BT46B 'fan car' was Formula 1 engineering at perhaps its most outlandish. Now fan technology has been successfully utilised on the McMurtry Speirling at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, could it be adopted by grand prix racing once again?
Hamilton's first experience of turning silver into gold
The seven-time F1 champion has been lumbered with a duff car before the 2022 Mercedes. Back in 2009, McLaren’s alchemists transformed the disastrous MP4-24. And now it’s happening again at his current team
Why few would blame Leclerc if he leaves Ferrari in future
OPINION: Ferrari's numerous strategy blunders, as well as some of his own mistakes, have cost Charles Leclerc dearly in the 2022 Formula 1 title battle in the first half of the season. Though he is locked into a deal with Ferrari, few could blame Leclerc if he ultimately wanted to look elsewhere - just as Lewis Hamilton did with McLaren 10 years prior.
The other McLaren exile hoping to follow Perez's path to a top F1 seat
After being ditched by McLaren earlier in his F1 career Sergio Perez fought his way back into a seat with a leading team. BEN EDWARDS thinks the same could be happening to another member of the current grid
How studying Schumacher helped make Coulthard a McLaren F1 mainstay
Winner of 13 grands prix including Monaco and survivor of a life-changing plane crash, David Coulthard could be forgiven for having eased into a quiet retirement – but, as MARK GALLAGHER explains, in fact he’s busier than ever, running an award-winning media company and championing diversity in motor racing. Not bad for someone who, by his own admission, wasn’t quite the fastest driver of his generation…
Could F1 move to a future beyond carbon fibre?
Formula 1 has ambitious goals for improving its carbon footprint, but could this include banishing its favoured composite material? Pat Symonds considers the alternatives to carbon fibre and what use, if any, those materials have in a Formula 1 setting