BUSINESS OF GRAND PRIX 2024 PART ONE: A FINANCIAL ANALYSIS OF THE TEAMS COMPETING IN FORMULA ONE TM FORMULA ONE’S BUSINESS MAGAZINE SINGLE COPY US $32 • UK£25 • € 30 ANNUALLY US$260 • UK£205 • € 240 Fit and proper?ANDERVELL www.vanwallvandervell.comBusinessF1 3 TM REGULAR FEATURES Credits 4 • Letters to the Editor 4 • People Index 6 • Paddock Patter 7 • News 8 - 27 • Premature Facts 28 • Notes & Observations 30 • Lewis Webster 33 • Letter From America 34 • Motor Matters 35 • Jottings 98 COVER STORY INSIGHT FEATURE The finest columnists of Britain’s newspapers have united in their opinion of the Red Bull sex scandal calling it amongst other choice insults; “grubby” “a stain” “a disgrace” “weasely” “deeply unattractive” “unedifying” “internecine” and many more impolite adjectives. In the process Formula One has been cast as a toxic sport that couldn’t care less how its women are treated. It’s been a public relations disaster that can only be corrected by some strong leader- ship from the sport’s rulers that has been up to now, oh so noticeably absent. 42 The independent lawyer who carried out the so called ‘independent investigation’ into the sexual harassment allegations against Christian Horner was anything but independent. Horner, who was supposedly cleared of sexual harassment allegations made by his PA, Fiona Hewitson after an independent investigation by a British barrister, claimed his interrogator was a KC, the highest legal qualification in Britain. But the truth is somewhat different. Peter Blake-Turner is just an ordinary 74-year-old solicitor, practising in London, with just five employees, who also represents the Yoovidhya family. 36 Ron Dennis’s Ronologue 72 Sir Ron Dennis is not a man who has a problem with self-delusion. He is well aware of his own faults and before addressing the assembled McLaren alumni at a 60th anniversary celebration last November, he warned his audience to be ready for what he called a ‘Ronologue’. Which is exactly what he delivered. 56 Chalerm Yoovidhya, the Thai billionaire, has taken control of Red Bull Racing and its sister team RB, through his family’s 51 percent shareholding in Red Bull GmbH. This change of control brings with it a serious question as to whether the 73-year-old is a fit and proper person to control two Formula One teams. Even a scant look at his life and times would suggest that may be in doubt. Control of Red Bull Racing has changed – now the FIA has a problem under its fit and proper person rules Fit and proper person? 75 The ever increasing complexity of Formula One means, by necessity, BusinessF1’s annual ‘Business of Grand Prix’ Special Report has been split into two parts. Part One featuring Scuderia Ferrari, Mercedes-AMG, Aston Martin Racing, Alpine Racing and McLaren Racing is published this month. Part Two consisting of Red Bull Racing, Williams Racing, Visa Cash App RB, Stake Sauber and Haas F1 will be published next month (May) along with the annual analysis of the ten team’s combined budgets. PART ONE The Business of Grand Prix 2024 Page 94Page 90Page 86Page 82Page 764 BusinessF1 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Tom Rubython CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Thomas Gibson, Oliver Edwards, Jo Maxwell, Lewis Webster CHIEF CREATIVE DESIGNER & PHOTOGRAPHER Alexander L. Sargent PHOTOGRAPHERS Darren Price, Jeff Custard WEB EDITOR Brad Dias CHIEF STATISTICIAN David Hayhoe VICE PRESIDENT - LOGISTICS David Peett EDITORS AT LARGE George Roberts, Andrew Frankl, Stefan Johansson GLOBAL AMBASSADOR Maprang Suwanbubpa SUBSCRIPTIONS CO-ORDINATORS Daisy Macedward, Roger Smith PUBLISHER Peter Collins BusinessF1 Magazine is published by BusinessF1 Magazine Ltd, Billing Wharf, The Causeway, Cogenhoe, Northampton NN7 1NH, United Kingdom Tel: 00 44 (0) 1604 698881/2 Email: editor@businessf1magazine.com Website: www.businessf1magazine.com April 2024 Volume 9 (Issue 04) BusinessF1 is published on the first Monday of every month. Title is copyright of BusinessF1 Magazine Ltd. F1 element is a recognised trademark of Formula One Licensing BV. Printed in Europe NEXT PUBLICATION DATE: The May 2024 issue of BusinessF1 Magazine is published on 27th April 2024. SUBSCRIPTIONS: Available for 12 months (12 issues) at a cost of US$260, UK£205 and €240 delivered anywhere in the world at no extra charge. Subscriptions can be ordered at www.businessf1magazine.com EDITORIAL COPYRIGHT:The contents of this magazine, both words and statistics, are strictly copyright and the intellectual property of BusinessF1 Magazine Ltd. Copying or reproduction may only be carried out with the written permission of the Publishers, which will normally not be withheld on payment of an agreed fee. ARTICLE REPRINTS:Many articles published in BusinessF1 Magazine are available as reprints by prior arrangement with the Publishers. Nor- mal minimum run for reprints is 100 but smaller quantities can be accommodated. Please con- tact David Peett - Vice President of Logistics. Praise indeed Dear Tom My March issue arrived a little late and I turned the lunchtime budget news off and read the magazine cover to cover, bliss! Yours, Adrian Lang Via email: langadrian@hotmail.com Dear Tom Thank you for providing by far the best read of any magazine that I peruse. Yours, Ed Moore Via email: edmooreuk@yahoo.co.uk Dear Tom Previously I have only had the pleasure of reading BusinessF1 when visiting the BRDC (British Racing Drivers Club) or in my local Porsche dealership. The depth of writing and background information into events and articles covered makes a captivating read, as do the snippets of inside information and views from your contributors and columnists. It was great to be able to set up a subscription. Yours, Darrell J. Rynott Chesterfield, Derbyshire S42 6ND, United Kingdom The editor replies: One must always take praise like this with a pinch of salt as often people like to flatter other people, when they don’t mean it, for reasons I know not. (Although I am sure, and I hope Ed, Darrell and Adrian do mean it). This was brought home to me in the paddock at the British Grand Prix last year. All sorts of people were going up to Guenther Steiner telling him how much they loved his book. This puzzled me as it is a dreadful book, unless you enjoy reading continual expletives, which personally I do not (although I know some people that do). I asked a few of the people who had surrounded Guenther why they liked the book. All somewhat reluctantly admitted they had not actually read it. Then a fellow I knew approached Guenther and went through the same routine. I knew he hadn’t read it because he had glanced at my copy and hadn’t even bought it. When I asked him why, he just gaped back at me like a half-wit. At risk of insulting the 150,000 odd Brits who bought the book, it was a book for half-wits. That is, of course, if you actually read it, but by my estimation less than 500 people probably did. So we aren’t a nation of half-wits after all, just of flatterers. A scandal too far Dear Tom, With reference to the Christian Horner ‘scandal’. Destabilising Red Bull Racing, in my humble opinion, seems the last resort when actually beating them on track has totally failed as they are set to dish out another drubbing this year. I note the complainant in this case, and all others of a similar nature, enjoys anonymity. We have a similar example of a devious attempt to get rid of a troublesome individual when Max Mosley was set up and publicised in a Sunday Rag. That little scheme didn’t work and neither will this plan. And l can guess who is the ‘innocent party’. Your books on Aryton Senna are superb as is your excellent magazine. Yours, Pat Doyle Cherry Grove, Hungerford RG17 0HP, United Kingdom The Editor replies: Pat wrote this letter before read- ing the latest issue (BusinessF1 Vol 9 No 3 March 2024). Pat is fundamentally right. What Max Mosley got up to in his own private space and time was legal (just about) and his own business. Max was set up by a horrible individual who manipulat- ed his girlfriend to sell her story to a British tabloid newspaper, edited by an equally grubby journal- ist. The editor mistook a German Commandant style comedy routine for a Nazi routine, after not bothering to get the tape translated from German to English. Which is why Max was able to exact revenge and demonstrate it is perfectly legal for adults to participate in their own sexual fantasises, however bizarre. 30 years ago, what Christian got up to would not have caused anyone to blink an eyelid. Frankly what he did was relatively (and pathetically) harmless. He basically chased after his PA but did nothing physical towards her and the worst he did was attempt to give dictation in his underpants and sending her some dodgy intimate photos which are far more funny than they are disgusting. Some of the comedic scenes would make good episodes for the re-make of the British TV comedy, Fawlty Towers. But, as our Insight article inside this issue discusses, that sort of behaviour is unacceptable in the 21st century and almost always leads to the perpetrator losing their job. Back in the seventies my own father chased after his secretary, left my mother, married the secretary, who became my stepmother. That would now be totally unacceptable behaviour and the consequences would be a lot worse now than they were then. The old saying ‘that was then this is now’ was never more appropriate. Dear Tom, This is the best story ( A scandal too far ) I have read in years Absolutely brilliant. Yours, Anil Bhoyrul Managing Director Arabian Business ITP Building #14, Dubai Media City, Dubai, U.A.E The editor replies: As Mr Bhoyrul is a leading figure in the media world in the Emirates, this is praise I will gladly accept (see above). A Abetiboul, Cyril94 Ab-Neam, Somyot66 Albon, Alex63 Alessandri, Nerio77 Alessi, Andrew90 Algeri, Andrea77 Allison, James14, 30, 82 Alonso, Fernando12, 25, 93 Amato, Caio91 Andretti, Michael15 Antonelli, Andrea Kimi98 Antonelli, Marco98 Atkins, Steve33 B Bach, Ralf12 Baker, Akbar Al95 Bankman-Fried, Sam84 Barlow, Gary46 Barnard, John33, 34, 52 Bates, Tony77 Beavis, Glenn98 Beer, Dirk de96, 97 Bell, Bob25, 96 Ben Sulayem33 Berger, Heidi98 Bergving, Maria83 Binotto, Mattia76, 77 Bishop, Matt93 Blake-Turner, Peter36, 37,39, 40, 70 Blandin, Eric90, 93 Boles, Doug30 Bolt, Paul95 Bonetalli, Paolo91 Bonometti, Carlo77 Borrok, Andrew18 Bowden, Laura86 Bravo, Alessandro Alumni25 Brawn, Ross14, 91 Briatore, Flavio13 Brivio, David94 Brown, Tony90 Brown, Zak23, 28, 33, 44, 48, 52, 86-89 Brundle, Martin30, 77, 95, 96 Buakhiew, Thanit70 Budkowski, Marcin94 Buggy, Gerry95 Burnell, Joe96 Bustamante, Bianca10 C Cade, Heath90 Calce, Antonio91 Camilleri, Louis78 Capito, Jost18, 20 Carbone, Mauro77 Cardile, Enrico78, 81 Carter, Graydon52 Castellano, Vicente91 Catalani, Marco77 Cathcart, Will83 Cavill, Henry94 Chaijinda, Jakthip69 Chan-ocha, Prayuth66, 67 Chapman, Colin87 Chapman, Graham30 Clark, Jamie83 Cleese, John30 Cohen, Stepane91 Cohen, Stephanie77 Coutts, Scott9, 77, 79 Croft, David30 Cruz, Penelope80 D Dalberg-Larsen, Jeppe91 Davies, Jerry95 Dejanovic, Darko83 Dejrattanawichai, Surapol66 DeMarco, Andrea91 Dennington, Matt88 Dennis, Sir Ron24, 33, 34, 52, 53, 82, 86, 88 De Putron, Peter18, 19, 20, 21 Desgouillons, Caroline95 Dicker, David7, 71 Döllner, Gernot8 Domenicali, Stefano7, 12, 13, 23, 28, 77, 83, 91 Douglas, Mark95 Downs, Craig T.21 Drugovich, Felipe93 Duesmann, Markus8, 28 E Ecclestone, Bernie10, 12, 33 Egan, John35 Elkann, John76, 77, 81 Elliott, Mike83, 84 Escalante, Laurence77 F Fallows, Dan90, 92, 93 Famin, Bruno94, 95, 96, 97 Fayer, Philip83 Ferguson, Dáire91 Ferrari, Enzo27, 35, 80 Ferrari, Piero81 Firman, Ralph20 Flower, Johanna83 Frankl, Andrew35 Friedberg, Mathieu77 Friedman, Jeremy21 Friend, Blake98 Fryer, Jenna16 Fry, Pat95, 96 Fultz, Darren18, 19, 20 Furbatto, Luca90 G Galassi, Alberto77 Gallagher, Brian83 Gallagher, Sir Tony30, 40 Galliera, Enrico78 Gallo, Daniel86 Ganassi, Chip15 Gasly, Pierre97 Gendry, David97 Germes, Damien77 Gilliam, Terry30 Giorgetti, Lorenzo78 Giunti, Ignazio27 Glanprasert, Pornanan67 Glock, Timo12 Golightly, Niel95 Goodrich, Cindy83 Grieder, Daniel91 Grover, Elliott91 Gsell, Franziska83 Gualtieri, Enrico78, 81 Gulden, Bjørn77 H Haas, Gene7 Hai, Helen95 Hakkinen, Mika52 Halliwell, Geri30, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50 Hamilton, Lewis12, 16, 52, 54, 81, 85, 88 Haren, Erik van49 Harman, Matt96, 97 Haworth, Jonny10 Hayward, Robert77 Herbert, Ian46, 48 Herman, Angelina77 Hewitson, Fiona13, 36-39, 61, 70 +RƬPDQQ2OLYHU Hollinger, Brad15 Hom-Ubonwoud, Suwet59, 60 Hood, Edd91 Horner, Christian7, 13, 16, 30, 33, 35-40, 42-55, 58, 82, 88, 58, 70, 98 Horner, Geri40, 48, 49, 51, 55, 58 Houldey, Neil86, 88 Hughes, Jessica83 Hughes, Mark81 +XJKHV2OLYHU Hulman, Tony30 Humphries, Brian91 I Idle, Eric30 Ioverno, Diego78 Isola, Mario14, 77, 83, 91, 95 J Jain, Ravin78 Jenkins, Alan34 Jensen, Christian83 Johnson, Harley91 Jordan, Eddie91 Joynathsing, Karolina95 K Kaiser, Fritz84 Kasemmongkol, Niwatchai69 Kelly, John40 Kerdniyom, Saiprasit66, 70 Key, James25, 86 Khalifa, Hamad bin Isa Al23 Kim, Vladimir7, 71 Kirchmayr, Alexander36 Klanprasert, Wichian16, 58, 60, 61, 63, 64, 66, 68 Kniewasse, Thomas38, 39 Krack, Mike25, 30, 90, 92 Kravitz, Ted30, 44 Kroiss, Andreas83 Kumar, Kalyan77 L Labarque, Kevin95 Lauda, Niki82, 83, 84, 52 Leadsom, Andrea18 Leclerc, Charles76-79, 81, 89 Lertpongadisorn, Chuchai69, 70 Levett, Richard12 Levy, Daniel12 Likoray, Peter91 Lissalde, Frédéric95 Long, Camilla52, 53 Lord, Bradley23, 33 M Macpherson, Elle17 Madthong, Jaruchart63, 66, 67 Mahakhun, Vicha62, 66, 67, 71 Mann, Michael35, 80 Mansell, Nigel33 Marcellin, Mike91 Marco, Nick De12 Marko, Helmut7, 13, 35, 36, 38, 40, 70, 76 Marshall, Rob86, 88, 89 Martin, Nick88 Masatto, Chelsea77 Masi, Michael33 Massa, Felipe12, 30, 33 Mateschitz, Dietrich10, 13, 42, 44, 48, 56-58, 61 Mateu, Clement95 Matos, Ana91 Matthews, James20 Maylish, Joseph77 Mazlan, Khairul Hisham83 McCullough, Tom90 McEvoy, Jonathan13, 23, 37, 40, 50, 81 McEwen, Louis88 McGuire, Don83 McKenzie, Grant77 McLaren, Bruce87, 88, 53 McPherson, Travis91 Mehta, Milin83 Mekies, Laurent78 Mekprasertkul, Thawatchai69, 70 Meo, Luca de94, 95, 97 Meyer, Nicholas77 Meylan, Edouard95, 97 Michel, Bruno33 Miles, Mark15 Milsted, Laura91 0LQW]ODƬ2OLYHU Moers, Tobias18, 21, 91 Monchaux, Jon25 Montanaro, Manuela77 Montezemolo, Luca de33, 76 Morino, Alessia77 Moshe, Yagen95 Mosley, Max12, 13 N Naksuk, Nate65, 66, 68, 69, 70 Nasser, Jacques94 Navarro, Roberto García95 Newey, Adrian7, 13, 33, 82-84, 86, 88, 90, 93 Nichols, Steve34, 52 Nix, Nina91 Noble, Johnny14 Norris, Lando88, 89 Nylund, Lucas83 O 2FRQ(VWHEDQ 2o'RQQHOO-LP 2OF]DN-DFHN P Palin, Michael30 Parker, Liam23, 33 Pearse, Greg91 Pengelly, Matthew95 Penske, Roger15 Perez, Sergio81 Permane, Alan95, 96 Phathanacharoen, Kissana65 Phelps, Steve30 Phetkhun, Prayut70 Pia, Frank Della95 3LDVWUL2VFDU Piccolo, Davide95 Pilbeam, Ciaron96 Pin, Doriane33 Piquet, Nelsinho12, 13 Piquet, Nelson7, 13, 33 Pomfret, Mitch83 Poonsrikasem, Sukit59-62, 64, 65, 67 Prising, Jonas77 Prodromou, Peter86, 88 Prommersberger, Armin77 Prost, Alain52 Q Qahtani, Mohammed Al91 Qubaisi, Hamda Al10 R Raikkonen, Kimi76 Ramchander, Ram95, 97 5DWFOLƬH6LU-LP Rausing, Finn8 Reynolds, PJ83 Reynolds, Ryan97 Ricciardo, Daniel24, 89, 98 Roma, Michele83 Rossi, Dario77 Rossi, Laurent94 Rossi, Valentino98 Russell, George85, 89 S Saengthong-aram, Chain- arong69, 70 Sagemueller, Christoph83 Sainz, Carlos77, 79, 81 Sami, Ekrem86, 88 Sanchez, David78, 86, 88, 89 Sargeant, Logan98 Savage, Matthew20, 21 Saward, Joe20, 21 Schaefer, Markus89 Schaefer, Sven83 Scheckter, Jody26, 27 Schwarz, Claudia18, 19, 20, 21, 39 Seidl, Andreas8, 25, 28, 86 Senna, Ayrton52, 98 Senna, Bianca52 Senna, Viviane52 Shagulyamov, Farhad77 Shanahan, Jon95 Singh, Surya77 Sissing, Arjan10 6ODFN-HƬHUVRQ Smith, Paul91 Smith, Will84 Spennick, Fabrice77 Stankey, John95 Stella, Andrea86, 88, 89 Sten, Matthew95 Stevenson, Andy92 Stewart, Rod46 Stroll, Lance93 Stroll, Lawrence90, 91, 92, 93 Sulayem, Mohammed ben7, 12, 22, 23, 28, 49 Syed, Matthew42, 46 Symonds, Pat13, 14 6]DIQDXHU2WPDU T 7DƱQ5HP\ Talpes, Florin77 Tangjan, Thanasit63-65, 67 Taptim, Veeradol59, 69, 70 Taylor, John83 Teä, Kristian77 Thomas, Hywel11, 85, 89 Thomas, Ragy95 Timberlake, Justin84 Todd, Chloe86 Todt, Jean12, 33, 77 Todt, Nicolas76 Tombazis, Nikolas15, 25 Toopgrajank, Comronwit59 Trump, Donald30 Tsai, Brenda77 Tuptimdee, Wiradon60 V Väsby, Upplands77 Vasseur, Fred13, 76, 77, 78, 81 Vaughan, Doug95 Verstappen, Jos36, 51 Verstappen, Max7, 13, 39, 40, 47, 49, 51, 70, 71, 81, Vettel, Sebastian93 Vigna, Benedetto9, 76, 79, 81 Vowles, James28, 98 W Walker, Murray30 Walsh, Paul23 Wang, Cyndie83 Wasserman, Casey92 Watzlawick, Franz36 Weatherall, Carol53 Weingarten, Tomer91 Weissenbacher, Andreas96, 97 Wheater, David96 Whicker, Alan30 White, Julia83 Whitemore, Jamie91 Whiting, Charlie12 Whitmarsh, Martin25, 90, 93 Williams, Claire20 :ROƬ6XVLH :ROƬ7RWR Woods, Tiger84 X Xiao, Peng83 Y Yoovidhya, Chaleo57, 58 Yoovidhya, Chalerm13, 36-40, 51, 56-60, 62, 64, 66-71 Yoovidhya, Daranee40, 58, 59, 61-64, 68 Yoovidhya, Vorayuth16, 57-70 Yusuf, Zia91 Yuttidhammadamrong, Pachara68 6 BusinessF1 PeopleIndexTom Rubython Editor-in-Chief Editor’s Letter 7 BusinessF1 T he truth can sometimes be very uncomfortable. Of course, the most widely told untruths are that no man is ever unfaithful to his wife and no one has ever snorted cocaine. Christian actually had a good old-fashioned story to tell. It should have gone something like this: “I became obsessed with a lovely young girl at work who I spent far more time with than I ever did with my wife. That girl rightly rebuffed my attentions and that, as every man knows, made her even more desirable in my eyes. It became a drug that was difficult to shake off and she rightly reported me to the company’s HR department. My obsession is now over and I have apologised to Fiona but the biggest apology I must make is to Geri, Olivia, Bluebell and Monty who I have badly let down. I have naturally tendered my letter of resignation to Oliver Mintzlaff and he has put the unopened envelope in his top drawer- for now. I know I’m drinking at the last chance saloon and have let myself down badly. I ask for your understanding and hopefully, eventual forgiveness after a very big lesson of life.” At least that would have been my advice if I had been his PR adviser before this whole thing blew up. C hristian Horner, team principal of Red Bull Racing, for so long a brand builder, has turned into a brand destroyer. He made Red Bull billions in the last 20 years but has lost it three times as many billions of dollars in the space of = weeks. Nelson Piquet once coined the phrase that “When there is only one story to tell, the truth is it”. For sure, that is not always the case but, in this instance, it would have certainly been the best course. The truth would have utterly blown Christian’s opponents away. But when untruthfulness became the currency of the day then so much of it needed to be spent. C hristian Horner has told so many lies, in so small a time, that his situation has become unsustainable and he will eventually be departing or his team will be departing him. Max Verstappen, Helmut Marko and Adrian Newey no longer want to work with him. He has alienated them and they were always going to take Fiona’s side. And where would Christian have been without Adrian Newey or Helmut Marko. I’ll tell you where - grubbing around in the middle of the grid. I t has also become obvious that one way or another the Andretti team is going to get its entry into Formula One, if not in 2025, then in 2026. Stefano Domenicali should stop defending the indefensible and accept Andretti’s entry. It is the only sensible route to take and every day he doesn’t take it he is besmirching his own reputation and ultimately his own legacy in the sport. I completely fail to understand why the Federation Internationale de L’Automobile (FIA) did not grant entries to Hitech Grand Prix and Rodin Motorsport. Both are backed by bona fide billionaires and both are long established successful motor racing teams in the European junior formulae. Ironically those are qualifications that Andretti don’t have; it has never competed in the European junior formulae and is not backed by a billionaire. As I understand it, both the Rodin and Hitech entries were turned down because the FIA didn’t like the look of Korean born, Kazakh mining billionaire Vladimir Kim or New Zealand born computer services billionaire, David Dicker. On the same basis, ironically, I believe the FIA would have turned down Dubai billionaire, FIA president Mohamed ben Sulayem if he wanted to enter a team into Formula One. And certainly, American billionaire, Gene Haas would have been turned down, should the same criteria apply. The reasons that the FIA turned down Hitech and Rodin are just as farcical as the reasons that Formula 1 Group (F1G) turned down Andretti. Look, Formula One desperately needs these three new teams, meaning six more seats for young drivers to compete in the sport and more action in the middle and back of the grid. In short, Formula One needs new blood and 26 car grids would produce more entertainment than 20 car grids. Indycar has grids of up to 33 cars, Nascar Cup races regularly has grids of 36 cars. Closed shops are unhealthy for any form of endeavour. The FIA and F1G both need to think again.Audi COO kicked downstairs to head up new F1 team Hoģëann booted out of Íngolstadt and sent to Hinõil O n 9th March 2024, Audi AG announced as quietly as it could, that Oliver Hoffmann had been fired as Chief Operating Officer of Audi AG, the second most powerful job in the company. He is leaving Audi’s headquarters at Ingolstadt and being sent to Hinwil in Switzerland where he will become Chairman of Sauber Motorsport, Audi’s new Formula One team. Hoffmann will take over responsibility for Audi’s Formula One commitment and becomes chairman of the board of directors of Sauber Group. A small sentence in an internal company biography announced that he now “held overall responsibility for implementing Audi AG's commitment to Formula One”. Audi currently owns 25 percent of Sauber and will eventually buy the remaining 75 percent from owner, Finn Rausing. Until that happens, Hoffmann’s internal title is Chief Representative, and according to Audi he will be responsible for “managing all three pillars of the Formula One commitment: investing in the traditional Swiss racing team Sauber, developing the power unit for Audi Formula Racing GmbH at the Neuburg site, and strategically managing and executing the commitment by Audi AG”. Audi insiders say that effectively Hoffmann has been parked at Sauber saving Audi a multi- million redundancy pay off. 47-year-old Hoffmann was born in Hanover and graduated from Leibniz University with a master’s degree in mechanical engineering and began his career at Volkswagen 20 years ago. He worked at Lamborghini and at the end of 2006 moved back to Germany working on powertrains. In 2009 he moved to the Audi factory in Győr, Hungary. In 2012, Hoffmann was appointed to the plum role as assistant to the chairman of the board of management of Audi AG. Between 2014 and 2017, he rose to become responsible for all powertrain development at Audi AG. In 2017 he joined Audi Sport and was appointed managing director. In 2019, he became Audi’s top technical executive. In 2021 he was appointed to the board of directors under Markus Duesmann and they became a double act running Audi. Until it all fell apart after Duesmann left Audi under a cloud, making Hoffmann’s own position uncertain under Duesmann’s replacement, Gernot Döllner. Hoffmann now joins Andreas Seidl, who left McLaren to become chief executive of Sauber Group in 2023, and has assumed the same role with the new Audi team. A statement from Audi confirmed that Seidl would act as the “face of the future Audi Formula One Team”. Seidl said: “I am looking forward to leading Audi into Formula One together with a highly motivated team as CEO of the Audi F1 Team. We have a clear roadmap for how we want to become competitive in Hinwil. We have ambitious goals.” Hoffmann’s role as chairman has been clearly defined so the two men do not overlap. The same Audi statement said: “His position as a general representative will oversee the stake in the Swiss team, the development of Audi’s new power unit, and the strategic steering and activation of the programme by Audi.” Hoffman said: “Formula One is my big passion. I am convinced that, by bundling responsibilities and taking over 100 percent of Sauber Group, we will further accelerate our preparations for the launch in 2026. I am pleased we were able to secure the services of Andreas Seidl as Audi F1 Team CEO. He is exactly the right man for our ambitious plan. Thanks to his broad experience from leadership roles on the manufacturer and Formula One team side, he will make a significant contribution to Audi’s Formula One project.” Oliver Hoffmann has been relieved of his duties at Audi AG and sent to Switzerland to oversee Sauber. Andreas Seidl will report to Oliver Hoffmann at Sauber Motorsport. News BusinessF1 8 News BusinessF1 A new era begins for team, car maker and PMI Ferrari and Philip Ñorris are bacé in bed together A fter a two-year break from one another, Scuderia Ferrari and Philip Morris International (PMI) are back together with a new, initially low-key sponsorship arrangement for the team. The PMI/Ferrari relationship ended at the end of 2021, after 48 years as a team sponsor, firstly with its Marlboro brand and then with PMI’s feel- good/do-good brand Mission Winnow. Then the new Chief Executive of PMI, Jacek Olczak brought the relationship with Ferrari to an end, costing Ferrari between $100 million and $200 million a year. It was a serious blow as PMI had sponsored Ferrari continuously since 1973. The deal ended with the hope that it could be revived again in the future and Ferrari have not sold its title sponsorship since, leaving its rear wing and engine cover vacant for two years, seemingly hoping for a PMI return. There has since been severe pressure on Olczak to renew it, bearing in mind the limited ways that PMI can promote itself. Over the past 24 months it has come to be regarded as a big mistake, as PMI’s rival BAT has soared ahead in smokeless products thanks to its sponsorship of McLaren. Now Olczak has been persuaded to reverse his decision and encouraged to come back by the success of British American Tobacco’s (BAT) relationship with McLaren Racing. The way BAT promotes its smokeless cigarette brands with McLaren has worked so well that pundits predict PMI will be back as Ferrari’s title sponsor next year. BAT has three main brands that alternate on the McLaren; Vuse, said to be the market leading global vaping brand, Velo, which are oral nicotine pouches and Glo, a tobacco heating product. Vuse is a disposable vaping product. Velo is nicotine pouches placed just inside the mouth so nicotine can be effectively absorbed. Glo is an electronic hand-held heated tobacco device which is a an alternative to smoking that doesn’t involve burning, producing far lower levels of toxicants than cigarettes. Philip Morris has a similar range of products which do not have the same market penetration of its rivals and BAT has stolen a march on PMI hence the return to Ferrari. PMI’s vaping product is called Veev, which is well below BAT’s Vuse in global market recognition. Likewise PMI’s nicotine pouch product, called Zyn, has far less market recognition than Velo. The same applies to heated tobacco where PMI operates under the Iqos Iluma brand, which is well below Glo in consumer recognition. It is now recognised that BAT’s sponsorship of McLaren has been a big contributor to getting global brand recognition for its smokeless products and that PMI’s Jacek Olczak made a very poor decision when he withdrew from Ferrari at the end of 2021. Now he will be attempting to make that right, as Scuderia Ferrari and Philip Morris International partners up again to renew their relationship which started in 1973 and ended in 2021. The two companies call it “opening a new chapter in their historic relationship.” But both organisations are being coy and have dressed up their new relationship as a technology sharing agreement. An official joint press release stated: “Ferrari E-Lab, in collaboration with PMI, will bring together the two companies’ technological capabilities to scout and explore new energy-related technologies that could support the decarbonisation journey of their respective production facilities in Maranello and Crespellano, located 30 km apart in the Emilia Romagna Region. The partnership aims to assess key solutions contributing to industrial electrification in the generation, storage, and transformation of renewable energy. The first study will explore the viability of long-duration energy storage technologies and should be completed by the third quarter of 2024.” Benedetto Vigna, Chief Executive of Ferrari, said: “In the year of the 50th anniversary of our partnership, Ferrari and PMI share a desire to evolve their work together in a spirit of open innovation. Our companies will collaborate to research new technology solutions to develop and optimise the use of energy in our industrial processes. We can learn a great deal from bringing together highly specialised teams from different sectors.” Jacek Olczak, Chief Executive of PMI, eating a lot of humble pie for his expensive mistake two years ago said: “PMI welcomes this new chapter in the long-standing partnership with Ferrari, establishing a new area of collaboration for our two organisations, which are bound by a common passion for innovation." Scott Coutts, Vice President of Operations at PMI, is right behind the new initiative: “We continue to implement our three- pronged strategy and approach to decarbonisation, which includes reducing fossil fuel consumption, switching to renewables, and off- setting unavoidable emissions. We are particularly interested in exploring the potential industrial electrification could play in our strategy.” The truth is that Coutts has a lot of catching up to do, as it is now clear that smokeless products are going to be big business in the future as the world turns its back on traditional smoking and adopts these new, much safer products. Jacek Olczak, Chief Executive of PMI, has to eat a lot of humble pie for his expensive mistake exiting Ferrari two years ago. Scott Coutts has a lot of ground to catch up on with PMI’s smokeless products: Formula One can help him deliver. 9Next >