Audi chief 'will not comment' on F1 rumours

Audi chief Rupert Stadler is no longer clearly denying speculation the Volkswagen-owned German carmaker is preparing to enter formula one.

The regular speculation hit a higher gear in the last six months, after ousted Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali joined Audi and conducted a feasibility study about a F1 project.

"Ah, you want to know what competitive programmes Audi will have in the future?" the Italian told F1 insider Leo Turrini this week.

"Come to Ingolstadt and I will tell you."

In Ingolstadt on Tuesday, Audi held its annual press conference, and a reporter did ask the carmaker's chairman Rupert Stadler about formula one.

He answered: "The board has a very strong and precise motor sport strategy.

"We are engaged in DTM, the 24 hours of Le Mans, in customer racing and then there are the sporting commitments of (subsidiaries) Ducati and Lamborghini.

"I will not comment on these rumours about formula one."

Stadler was also interviewed this week by the Swiss newspaper Blick, and asked yet again about the F1 speculation.

"At Le Mans we have found an ideal area for the transfer of technology to the road," he said.

"We also have no shortage of competition, with Porsche, Peugeot, Toyota and now Nissan.

"In this respect," said Stadler, "we have our motor sport programme clearly defined for the next few years."

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Leopold

Leopold Pleijsier founded F1-Fansite.com in 2001 and has followed Formula 1 since the early 1980s. He writes about daily F1 news, race weekends, drivers and the sport’s history.

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