Audi (Formula Earth)

**Audi Sport FE** was the works team of Audi in Formula Earth. Entering in 2021 alongside Prema following FIA's decision to expand the grid from 20 to 24 cars, Audi entered with the purpose of introducing young talents to the sport. Over the years, Audi brought to Formula Earth various future title contenders and even champions such as the late Ivan Marincic, Jason Leung and Martin Fenin. In general, the team had mostly ups and downs, mostly being in the midfield. However, the mismanagement from the parent company, unusual contract decisions such as the ousting of talented youngster Felix Neurether and future contract mistakes that led to the team in financial turmoil caused its eventual decline, resulting in Audi shutting down the team at the end of 2031.

## Origins

Audi had entered multiple forms of racing, such as WRC, becoming the pioneers of 4-wheel drive thanks to the all-dominating Audi Quattro and also making what was the most powerful Group B car, the Audi Quattro E2 which would win later the Pikes Peak in 1987 and later became the best team in the endurance series, winning the 24 Hours of Le mans in multipe succesive years. Lastly, Audi entered the single seater world at Formula E in collaboration with ABT Sportsline. With the introduction of Formula International, Audi took over the team from ABT in 2020 and ran it as a works team, and following the success, set the basis for entering Formula Earth in 2021.

## 2021-2023: The first years

As the second newcomer to enter, Audi was the first to choose from the all-new draft system and picked Formula International's first champion, Ivan Marincic, immediately promoting him to the first team and making him the youngest ever debutant in Formula 1/Earth. Alongside him was Williams reject Nicholas Latifi. The first year saw Audi at the back of the grid, but managing to beat fellow newcomers Prema and the stricken Sauber team. Marincic scored 4 points and showed his immense potential, but Latifi underperformed despite scoring his only point in the series. In 2022, Mercedes starlet Felix Neurether was signed, reuniting with Marincic after 2 years, but crashed heavily on his debut and missed the next three races. Emilia LeBlanc raced during that time, becoming the first woman to race since 1992 with Giovanna Amati.

Marincic showed even more potential, scoring 8 points and beating the Williams duo of Pierre Gasly and Rock Hils. Neurether on the other hand struggled after his injury and failed to score points. The duo was retained though for 2023, which saw even more positive results. Marincic and Neurether scored a combined total of 24 points and beat Prema, Sauber and Haas, with Marincic scoring a best result of sixth and Neurether a best result of seventh.

## 2024-2025: Neurether controversy and decline

Both drivers would leave in the end of the year, but while Marincic made a high-profile move to Mercedes, Neurether was ousted from the team despite his good performances. This move drew criticism, with most people deeming the ousting of the young German unfair. After this, it is worth mentioning that Neurether would never make it to Formula Earth again. Their replacements were Hong Kong prospect Jason Leung and British ex-McLaren reserve driver Rory Douglas. The team's performances were worse than 2023, with Leung scoring 7 points and Douglas 4. 2025 saw even worse results, with Audi finishing dead last with no points, with Leung and Douglas being the only drivers who failed to score a single point.

## 2026-2028: Back to the midfield

Leung and Douglas were kept for 2026, and managed to score a combined of 5 points, beating the other teams of the lower midfield. Douglas moved to Williams on a swap deal with Pierre Gasly, and the team improved to a total of 7 points, with Leung scoring 4 and Gasly 3. Gasly returned to Williams and Audi made a shock move by signing former world champion Carlos Sainz Jr. from Red Bull. 2028 was Audi's best year in the sport, scoring 30 points, with leung scoring 17 points, the most of any other Audi driver.

## 2029-2031: Financial difficulties and shutdown

However, despite the on-track success, the mismanagement from Audi on the financial part, including giving lucrative contracts despite being mostly unable to handle them led to the beginning of a financial decline that was signaling the beginning of the end. Also, after 2028, Audi shut down its Formula International project due to a lack of funds. Due to financial problems, Audi decided to sell Leung to McLaren, while Sainz left the sport for a last year in Formula International. Academy prospect Martin Fenin was promoted to the first team, but the team made another financially problematic decision by bringing another world champion, this time Esteban Ocon. The team was stuck in the lower midfield, with Ocon losing to Sauber, but Fenin was the shining light of the team, scoring 4 points and keeping them afloat.

Fenin's performances led to his transfer to McLaren, and Audi made yet another questionable signing by getting the inexperienced Robert Gine. The young Frenchman was out of his depth and failed to score points, and Ocon scored the only point of the team. However, it was the 2026 world champion who was given the boot from the team despite his contribution, while Gine stayed for 2031. Lando Norris was signed to replace him. Norris and Gine failed to score any points for the team and also Norris missed the last five races after a crash with Tanjiro Kamado. 2030 Formula International champion Alexandre Gagnon was signed for the last races, making his debut at Formula Earth and scoring the last point of the team. At the end of the year, the finances dried up and Audi decided to shut down the team and sell the assets, ending a turbulent 10-year era. The assets were taken over by Saudia owner Mohammed bin Salman, who created future champion winning side Aramco.

## Notable Drivers

* Ivan Marincic (2021-2023)
* Nicholas Latifi (2021)
* Felix Neurether (2022-2023)
* Emilia LeBlanc (2022)
* Jason Leung (2024-2028)
* Rory Douglas (2024-2026)
* Pierre Gasly (2027)
* Carlos Sainz Jr. (2028)
* Martin Fenin (2029)
* Esteban Ocon (2029-2030)
* Robert Gine (2030-2031)
* Lando Norris (2031)
* Alexandre Gagnon (2031)