ooooIYKYK, ISSUE #oo27
Several weeks ago, Audi teased a date of November 12, 2025 in the context of its move to Formula 1. With little detail to go on, and timing set before the end of the 2025 season in which the team is still competing as Sauber, the announcement seemed to raise more questions than it answered. Would Audi reveal the 2026 car or make further team announcements? Not really.
Last night was the night. Billed as “Audi One”, the event was designed to establish cohesion from Audi’s earliest years, represented by the pre-war Auto Union Type C Grand Prix car, through its phases of growth: quattro, Sport quattro, IMSA GTO, LMP and Dakar. Legendary drivers with ties to each of these eras were present, even one drawing his own lineage to the pre-war period in which Hans Joachim Stuck’s father, Hans Stuck, competed.
This cohesion is important. For many longtime fans, F1 is not the natural home of the four rings. Ask most die-hard Audi enthusiasts what sparked their passion and they reference rallying and Le Mans. Formula 1, by comparison, can feel unfamiliar. But its global reach, its prestige and its cultural momentum make it an irresistible platform. If Audi approaches it thoughtfully, F1 is likely to also become a bridge to new generations of fans.
And design is a crucial part of that bridge. For decades, design has been one of Audi’s most reliable differentiators. It helped define the brand through the aerodynamic era of the 1990s, the Bauhaus-informed TT years, and the singleframe-led aesthetic of modern Audis. As the industry shifts toward electric vehicles at scale, design could once again be one of Audi’s most powerful tools. But enthusiasts also hope that Audi’s engineering prowess—once the backbone of quattro dominance, will find new forms. The hope is that any future Audi, including ones driven by electricity, will be engaging in ways that feel functionally equivalent to what internal combustion cars have offered over the decades: tactile responses, meaningful feedback, and an emotional connection with a machine that stimulates the senses.
That context makes Massimo Frascella’s role as Chief Creative Officer all the more significant. His remit appears broader than a tradition design chief. Instead, he is shaping the narrative Audi will carry into F1 at a moment when racing relevance and road-car relevance are both pivotally important to the brand.
The R26 Concept embodies that mission. Following the traditional R+numeral pattern (R8, R10, R15, R18, etc.) while also referring to the intended F1 season, “R26” signals the 2026 entrant. While this car is consistent with upcoming 2026 regulations, it is unlikely to be identical to the final F1 2026 form… especially in a sport where aerodynamics can and do evolve from race to race. Likewise the livery: this is a concept, not a completed racecar. It exists to show direction, but does not assure final execution.
The direction is rooted in color. The R26 Concept debuts titanium grey, carbon black and a refreshed racing red known as Lava Red. Audi’s use of color has always been a key element in competition. In the early 1980s, Audi Sport introduced a tri-colore rhombus of dark brown, taupe-grey and warm magma red. As the brand moved toward DTM, the palette shifted to a more modern red, grey and black. Frascella’s reinterpretation revives this tradition while updating it for a digital-first world.
Titanium harks both the polished aluminum of the Silver Arrow era and the warm grey of early Audi Sport. Carbon black speaks to the carbon fiber ubiquity of modern racing. And Lava Red takes classic Audi Sport red and reimagines it through a contemporary lens—warmer, richer, more photogenic. It calls back to the ur quattro’s earliest warm shades of red, while taking a page from the Ferrari F1 playbook by also choosing a red that looks great on camera. Taken together, these colors give the R26 Concept an identity that is unmistakably Audi without relying on nostalgia so literally.
The livery, led by designer Marcos dos Santos, intentionally avoids the common flowing-stripe motifs of today’s racecars. Instead, it uses color-blocking to emphasize the geometry and purpose of the chassis. As dos Santos told The Drive who was in attendance: “We had to understand that the racecar is a design object first and foremost—there’s a purpose to every part of the body, that’s why we cut through it [with colors] the way that we did.” That reasoning is evident in how the carbon fiber echoes the engine cover lines, how Lava Red defines the sidepods, and how titanium structures the nose.
It is a subtle, modern evolution of Audi Sport’s visual DNA. The titanium nose evokes the Auto Union Silver Arrows that led the four rings into worldwide competition; the Lava Red accents modernize the form; and the red segment at the rear of the sidepod hints at both the R8 Mk1’s iconic side blade and the side panels of the final R8 LMP1 livery that also led into the R10 era at Le Mans. Instead of literal stripes, Audi opted for a more unexpected interpretation of heritage.
Of course, design alone will not win races. It is a superb start—arguably the strongest of any recent F1 newcomer—but the competitive lift ahead is enormous. The encouraging sign is that Sauber appears to be approaching this lift with seriousness and focus. Their recent form, upgrades and organizational restructuring suggest a team preparing for a genuine competitive level up, not just a rebrand. But as always in F1, the proof will come in the competitive results, not the press imagery.
Inside Audi One, the design narrative extended beyond the R26 Concept. The titanium-finished Concept C was also on display, reinforcing the connection Audi aims to establish between road-car design and race-car ambition. If they’re successful, the message will be that Audi’s future identity will not be split between motorsport and mobility. Instead, it aims to be unified, coherent and emotionally resonant in both spaces.
The stakes are high. Audi must engage legacy brand aficionados—those who came of age during the rally days or fell in love with the brand through Le Mans—while also capturing younger F1 fans with no prior Audi context. Leaning so decisively into the brand’s performance roots is a smart and encouraging choice. It signals that Audi understands its core strengths and is willing to express them, not dilute them, on the global stage.
Winning at Le Mans was never easy. Nor is winning over EV-skeptical customers in an era increasingly defined by electrification, software and shifting expectations. Formula 1 will demand even more: consistency, competition, clarity of purpose. Design cannot secure victory, but it can establish meaning—and meaning is something Audi has built its reputation upon for generations. What Frascella and his talented team are working to create here is more than an aesthetic. If they are successful, it will bem a foundation. And, should the engineering and on-track performance rise to meet this foundation, Audi’s return to top-tier motorsport and dominant market position could become one of the brand’s most defining chapters yet.
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ooooIYKYK AUDI ARCHIVE UPDATES
Concept Cars: Audi R26 Concept (2025)
Racecars: Audi V8 quattro Evo DTM (1991) / Audi V8 quattro DTM (1990)
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