Audi have handed their Formula 1 power unit operation to Thomas Fuhr, who more than a decade ago ran Mercedes-AMG’s engine shop at Brixworth. Now he arrives at the Neuburg site that is trying to compete with it.
Fuhr takes up the role of chief executive of Audi Formula Racing GmbH on 1 November, the company announced. The CEO post sits above the existing technical and operational leadership at Neuburg, the facility 16 kilometres from Audi’s headquarters in Ingolstadt where the power unit is designed and built. Stefan Dreyer stays on as chief technology officer with responsibility for power unit development, and Christian Foyer continues as chief operating officer running day-to-day operations.
Audi’s team principal and chief executive, Mattia Binotto, framed the hire as a step to scale what Neuburg has already built.
“We have built strong foundations in Neuburg, developing Audi’s first Formula 1 power unit from the ground up,” Binotto said. “As Thomas understands both the technical challenge and what it takes to build and lead high-performing teams, I am confident he will play a key role by further developing the team and its organisation to make us the best F1 manufacturer.”
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Fuhr himself called the project an opportunity to shape Audi’s future in the sport.
“The team in Neuburg has developed an entirely new power unit and brought it to the track,” he said. “I want to build on that work by bringing together expertise across the organisation and creating the conditions for us to compete at the highest level.”
From Mercedes-AMG engines to plumbing, and back
Fuhr spent 2009 to 2012 as managing director of Mercedes-AMG High Performance Powertrains, the Brixworth operation that supplies engines to the works Mercedes team and to its customers. He then left motor sport for the industrial sector, holding senior positions at GROHE and LIXIL, and most recently serving as chief technology officer of Georg Fischer Building Flow Solutions.
Audi describe his CV as more than three decades of international engineering and operations leadership. The brief in Neuburg is to turn that experience into a Formula 1 structure that is still finding its shape in its first season as a works manufacturer.
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A debut season in eighth place
The appointment lands with Audi eighth in the 2026 constructors’ championship on 23 points, with Nico Hülkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto in the cars. The team sits ahead of Williams and behind Haas, and far adrift of Mercedes at the top of the standings on 607 points.
The 2026 regulations reset the engine formula and brought Audi in as a works manufacturer for the first time, taking over the former Sauber operation out of Hinwil. The power unit itself is built at Neuburg, and that is the operation Fuhr will now lead.
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