With the war waging in the Middle East, cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian events means a few weeks off between the Japanese Grand Prix and the Miami Grand Prix (May 1-3). That doesn’t stop F1 news from happening though, so we’ll keep that going with regular weekly summaries.
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA SUGGESTS CHRISTIAN HORNER BE CONSIDERED FOR AUDI REVOLUT F1 TEAM PRINCIPAL
With Audi still not having announced a new leadership team structure following Jonathan Wheatley’s surprise departure, pretty much everyone is suggesting a solution. And while at the end of the day only Audi F1 will make that final decision, it is interesting considering who is saying what… at least when the candidates are known quantities being suggested by known quantities… like last week’s comments by prominent F1 commentator Will Buxton who threw up Allan McNish’s name. This week, it’s driver-turned-commentator Juan Pablo Montoya with his own plug for ousted Red Bull boss Christian Horner, noting that Horner’s leadership credentials are often overlooked, despite his central role in building Red Bull into a dominant force in modern F1.
Horner’s track record is difficult to ignore, having overseen multiple championship-winning eras and helped shape one of the most successful teams of the past two decades. Supporters of the idea believe that kind of experience could be invaluable to Audi as it continues to build its works team structure ahead of the new regulatory era. The argument centers on Horner’s ability to manage complex organizations, attract top talent, and deliver sustained competitive success at the highest level.
Critically though, known circumstances point to Horner being a square peg whereas Audi could be a round hole. Why? While Mattia Binotto doesn’t particularly enjoy being a frontman – a space where Horner is comfortable, both are dominant leaders who likely don’t wish to be junior to the other. Second, rumors have swirled that Horner seeks an ownership stake in a team much like Toto Wolff of Mercedes-AMG Petronas and was most recently linked to a minority purchase attempt of Alpine (as is Wolff for whatever that is worth). If all that’s true, then Horner likely doesn’t want to be just an employee bringing about his undoing at Red Bull and it remains unknown that Audi or its own Qatar Investment Authority partner owner in the former Sauber operation would be willing to give Horner a piece of the pie – a possibility that seems unlikely.
SPARK SCALE MODELS OF AUDI REVOLUT F1 TEAM R26 CONFIRMED
We broke the news a few weeks ago that model car manufacturer Spark had confirmed they’d be making scale versions of the R26 F1 car, and now we have further details. And while we don’t have any official photos yet and the image above is just an AI rendering for now, we are pleased to report model numbers and scales revealed so far by Spark.
These include:
| Item # | Scale | Description |
|---|---|---|
| S9394 | 1:43 | R26 Barcelona Pre-Season Shakedown 2026 Gabriel Bortoleto |
| S9372 | 1:43 | R26 No.27 Australian GP 2026 Nico Hulkenberg |
| S9373 | 1:43 | R26 No.5 Australian GP 2026 Audi First Race, First Point Gabriel Bortoleto |
| 18S1263 | 1:18 | R26 No.27 Australian GP 2026 Nico Hulkenberg |
| 18S1264 | 1:18 | R26 No.5 9th Australian GP 2026 Gabriel Bortoleto |