Audi’s deal with Qatar deepens Formula One’s Gulf ties

DOHA – Qatar’s long-term investment in the future Audi Formula One team, announced at the country’s grand prix on Nov 29, brings obvious benefits for both, and increases the Gulf region’s influence in the sport.

Four of the current 24 races are in the Middle East – one more than the United States – with Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Qatar and Saudi Arabia paying hefty hosting fees to Liberty Media-owned Formula One.

Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat owns the McLaren Group, while sportscar maker Aston Martin is part-owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund with energy giant Aramco the team’s title sponsor.

Qatar Airways and Aramco are also among 10 global partners of the sport, and the International Automobile Federation is headed by Emirati Mohammed Ben Sulayem.

For Volkswagen-owned Audi, who will take over the Swiss-based Sauber team from the 2026 season, the Qatar Investment Authority’s (QIA) agreement to take a significant minority stake brings in a partner with estimated assets of some US$510 billion (S$682.5 billion).

That may reduce some of the political heat at a time when the German carmaker’s parent is threatening to close plants in Germany for the first time in its 87-year history.

Audi chief executive Gernot Dollner denied that was a driving force and said the search for a strategic partner started a year ago with QIA, which shared the same long-term goals.

“When I stepped in as CEO of Audi, we had a review of the project and the question was how to proceed,” he told reporters in Doha.

“Part of the decision to go really all in and continue this programme was that we have to think bigger, and to think bigger in the context of a complex transition phase the whole industry is in.

“We have a business plan... and this Formula One project is an integral part of the transformation story of Audi.

“You can’t build a future by only saving money, you have to invest and we have to transform the company, the Audi company, and we believe that the Formula One project is integral part of that transition of Audi.”

The QIA’s holdings will be almost a third of the team, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Financial terms of the deal, which builds on the Qatari state’s global sports portfolio, were not disclosed. The QIA also owns a 17 per cent stake in Volkswagen.

Sauber have yet to score a point this season and new boss Mattia Binotto, who previously ran Ferrari, will still have his work cut out.

“We are all very pleased as team members of today’s partnership because that gives certainly a long-term view, and it’s a partnership of passion,” he said.

“I’m very optimistic as well, optimistic because everything is step by step (being) put in place and all the choices, the right choices, are somehow being taken.”

Qatar’s other sports holdings include France’s Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain, who are owned by Qatar Sports Investments (QSI), a state-backed body founded by the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

It also acquired World Padel Tour from its organisers Damm in 2023 and unified the world’s professional tour under one entity, ending a power struggle in the sport.

The Gulf state’s Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani, son of former prime minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani, in 2023 bid US$6 billion for English Premier League club Manchester United before dropping out. 

In other news, Lewis Hamilton has said he is “totally fine” with having to wait until 2025 for his first Ferrari Formula One test, even if it could make life harder at the start after moving from Mercedes.

Britain’s seven-time world champion is replacing Spaniard Carlos Sainz at the Italian team, but Mercedes are holding him to his contract until the end of the year to fulfil sponsor commitments.

That means the 39-year-old will not be free for the post-season test in Abu Dhabi after the December finale at Yas Marina. REUTERS