Boost for UK industry as another F1 team heads to ‘motorsport valley’

Sauber will become the next Formula 1 team to open a base in the UK’s “motorsport valley” as Audi prepares to enter the sport in 2026.

The Swiss-based team has struggled to recruit top engineering talent from other teams due to its base on the continent.

They’ll join the likes of Mercedes, Red Bull and McLaren in the United Kingdom in a huge economic boost for the sector.

The team said it would be “evaluating potential locations within the motorsport valley, including Bicester, Silverstone, and Milton Keynes”, adding the move would “establish a platform to collaborate with top experts and attract local engineering talent for the Audi F1 project”.

Sauber will be taken over by Audi at the end of the 2025 season ahead of their entry next year. They will be joined by GM/Cadillac in 2026 as the Formula 1 grid expands to 11 teams.

Sauber chief operating and chief technical officer Mattia Binotto said: “Expanding into the UK allows us to remain close to one of the world’s most dynamic motorsport ecosystems.

“Our vision is to create a strong, collaborative network across Hinwil, Neuburg, and the UK, driving innovation and performance.”

Sauber’s Hinwil base – where the cost of living and maintaining a team is higher than the United Kingdom – joins Haas in Kannapolis, Alpine partly in Viry-Chatillon, RB in Faenza and Ferrari in Maranello in being headquartered outside of the UK.

Former Red Bull sporting director Jonathan Wheatley will join the team in April ahead of the Audi shift in a coup for Sauber – he had been at the Raging Bulls since 2006.

F1 driver line-up