Mike Krack linked with shock Audi-Sauber switch

Mike Krack is reportedly being head-hunted to leave Aston Martin and lead Audi’s new works Formula 1 project.

The rumours actually emerged just before the recent British GP, and were just the latest raft of reports suggesting all is not well behind the scenes in the wake of Volkswagen brand Audi’s takeover of the Sauber team.

Andreas Seidl, Sauber Group CEO, has been absent from many grands prix in 2024 as he focuses at Sauber’s Swiss headquarters on the transition to full works Audi status for 2026.

However, the Japanese source as-web.jp reported on the Thursday before the British GP that Seidl is at odds with Oliver Hoffman.

Hoffman, who like Seidl is German, is a long-time Audi official and board member who in March of this year was appointed ’chief representative’ of Audi’s entire F1 project.

The report said the pair were recently arguing over the unknown identity of Nico Hulkenberg’s teammate for 2025 and beyond - with Carlos Sainz believed to have grown wary about Audi’s progress.

The outfit now seems to be struggling to attract a top driver to be paired with Hulkenberg.

"Behind the scenes, there is a constant battle between Hoffmann and Seidl," the Japanese report claims. "According to sources, Hoffmann plans to fire Andreas Seidl and bring in Mike Krack from Aston Martin to be Audi’s F1 team principal."

Hoffman is believed to be eyeing Seidl’s position as group CEO.

"At the same time," the report added, "Seidl is apparently pressuring the board to fire Hoffmann and, with all the powers he has as CEO, appoint Krack as team principal as well."

Meanwhile, Hoffman may be fending off a parallel push to oust him from Audi CEO Gernot Dollner, who regards Audi’s road car division failures as well as Sauber’s failure to score even a single point so far in 2024 as partly Hoffman’s fault.

The well-connected veteran Swiss F1 journalist Roger Benoit has also heard the rumblings about the power struggle at Audi-owned Sauber. "At Sauber," he now writes in Blick newspaper, "the Audi tree has been burning in Hinwil for weeks.

"It’s about power," Benoit added. "Now another former employee at Sauber is being discussed - Mike Krack."

Krack, with vast experience in German motorsport engineering, currently leads the Aston Martin team, whose own development progress has stalled in 2024.

"The Luxembourger," wrote Benoit, "no longer feels comfortable at Aston Martin, probably because of his boss (Lawrence) Stroll."

Meanwhile, Italian F1 insider Leo Turrini claims that legendary Ferrari designer Rory Byrne has extended his consultancy contract with the Maranello based team through 2027.