Audi, Binotto asks for patience: “Let’s remain humble, there is a lot to learn. But mediocrity is not an option”

Binotto’s new adventure Mattia Binotto is ready for the new, great challenge of his career. After managing the Sauber interregnum, here is the former Ferrari team principal at the helm of the Audi F1 project. No longer on the wall managing the team’s operations – that role will fall to former Red Bull sporting director Jonathan Wheatley – but in the even more important position of Head of the Audi F1 Project. On the occasion of the presentation of the livery of the new R26, which took place in Berlin, Binotto outlined the team’s programmatic line. The objectives are quite ambitious – fighting for the title already in the 2030 season – but for the moment the manager from Lausanne preaches calm and patience, inviting everyone not to look at what the ranking will be in 12 months, but at the progress that will have been made on the track. It’s about…learning “Being here is a great pride, a great emotion – began Binotto – we are only at the beginning of our journey. This is a starting point. We are aware that many challenges await us but at the same time, I think we are ready to face them. We are ready to grow, to build and to continue learning. 2026 will bring with it new regulations, new chassis, new engines. And I think that from an engineering point of view this has been a challenge so far fascinating. It will be very fascinating in the future too. And in the end that’s the beauty of Audi. Our speed and the regulations on these cars somehow give us the opportunity to adopt new approaches.” A key word that can be extrapolated from Binotto’s speech is: “learning”. “The first goal is to fight for the championship in 2030 and we will have some milestones starting from 2026. We have discussed for a long time what the goal should be for 2026. Can we make it something tangible? Should we look at the position in the championship table? Or maybe we should look at how many points we have scored at the end of the season? But I think, being our first year, this would be the wrong approach. I think for us the most important thing is to become competitive. We have to stay humble. There is a lot to learn and for us this is more a question of attitude. It’s about being present and learning, learning continuously. Becoming competitive means that mediocrity is no longer an option. We know exactly where we have to go, what the path is. We have to work hard, get there and somehow become more and more dangerous even for our competitors.”