Skip to content Skip to Search
Skip navigation

Audi slams brakes on Qatari F1 buyout rumours

By Chris Hamill-Stewart
Audi Qatar F1 Michael Potts/Alamy
Gernot Dollner, Audi's CEO (left) at an F1 race this year. The company told AGBI it did 'not engage in speculation'
  • ‘The team is not for sale’
  • Qatar already owns VW stake
  • QIA big investor in sport

Carmaker Audi has said its F1 team is not for sale, scuppering online rumours that the company was preparing to sell to Qatar’s QIA sovereign wealth fund.

“We do not engage in speculation. The team is not for sale,” an Audi F1 spokesperson told AGBI on Tuesday.

Qatar already holds a major stake in VW, which owns a large stake in Audi. Its Qatar Sports Investments fund​​ is a major investor in sports around the world, including holding a 70 percent stake in France’s PSG football team.

Several other Gulf states have already invested in motorsports. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) owns a 20.5 percent stake in Aston Martin through its investment in EV company Lucid.

Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat has owned a major stake in McLaren Group since 2007.

In October, it emerged that Abu Dhabi-based investment vehicle CYVN Holdings had entered a non-binding agreement to buy 100 percent of McLaren’s automotive business from Mumtalakat.

Last year, Abu Dhabi-based G42, an artificial intelligence firm owned by the emirate’s Mubadala sovereign wealth fund, formed a partnership with the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 team to provide data analytics and technology support. 

The spokesperson said that Audi’s Formula 1 project is a long-term development and its future is not in question. 

“We are firmly convinced that Formula 1 and Audi are a perfect fit. It is in line with our strategy.

“Even though it is an ambitious project that takes time, we believe that we can demonstrate innovative strength and boost the Audi brand in the premier class of motorsport,” the spokesperson said.

Register now: It’s easy and free

AGBI registered members can access even more of our unique analysis and perspective on business and economics in the Middle East.

Why sign uP

  • Exclusive weekly email from our editor-in-chief
  • Personalised weekly emails for your preferred industry sectors
  • Read and download our insight packed white papers
  • Access to our mobile app
  • Prioritised access to live events
Register for free

I’ll register later

Latest articles

Ramadan food discounting and lower transport costs contributed to inflation hitting a five-month low in March in Dubai, though housing costs persist

Dubai inflation falls to its lowest in five months

Dubai’s annual consumer price inflation fell in March to its lowest in five months, driven by lower transport and food costs, according to official data from Dubai Statistics Centre. The headline CPI inflation rate declined to 2.8 percent on an annual basis, from 3.2 percent in each of January and February. That is the lowest […]

Sandstone rock formations rise above the Hisma desert, Neom

Aiman Al Mudaifer named permanent CEO of Neom

Neom is to appoint Aiman Al Mudaifer as its permanent chief executive, more than five months after he took on the role of acting CEO. Al Mudaifer has worked for the Public Investment Fund, the $925 billion sovereign wealth fund backing Neom, since 2018. He took over the CEO’s post at Neom, one of the […]

A Volkswagen dealership in Shenzhen, China. Foreign car makers in China are losing market share to domestic rivals

Volkswagen to export surplus stock from China to Middle East

Volkswagen is to start exporting cars from China, aiming to sell in other Asian markets, South America and the Middle East, its China chief Ralf Brandstaetter has said. Brandstaetter also said that the carmaker was ready to tackle domestic competition in the country. Carmakers in China, including Volkswagen, are grappling with how to make use […]

2SBHG03 Serious thinking businessman working with tablet computer inside office. Businessman in shirt working at workplace, using laptop, sitting at desk, using financial app.

Turkish startup funding plunges in first quarter

Uncertainty in the Turkish economy and government budget cuts are weighing on the country’s startup environment, with venture capital funding for new projects falling in the first quarter to their lowest in more than 18 months. Turkish technology startups attracted $58 million in the three months to March 31, almost 50 percent down on the […]

Passenger on the Riyadh Metro. The IMF expects consumer prices in Saudi Arabia to rise by 2% this year

IMF cuts Saudi GDP forecast as trade turbulence continues

The International Monetary Fund has lowered its economic growth forecast for Saudi Arabia in response to escalating trade tensions and falling oil prices. The IMF’s latest World Economic Outlook, released this week, predicts that Saudi Arabia’s GDP will grow by 3 percent this year, down from its previous forecast of 3.3 percent. It now expects […]

Lending income underpins record Q1 for Saudi banks

Three of Saudi Arabia’s five biggest banks by assets have reported record first-quarter profits after generating more income from loans and on lower operating costs. Saudi National Bank, the kingdom’s largest lender, reported a 19 percent jump in profit in the three months to March 31 to SAR6 billion ($1.6 billion), compared with the same […]

Oil Terminal Pipes Stop Valve Guest Workers Men In Hard Hats Storage Tank

Iraq to cut oil spending after fall in crude prices

Iraq is seeking to cut operational spending on oil projects while trying to maintain investment in increasing crude production, following a steep fall in prices, the official news agency reported on Tuesday. Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani sent a letter to the oil ministry and state-owned oil companies asking them to reduce spending on projects […]

Rail tracks maintenance process. Railroad workers repairing a broken track

Iraq and Turkey to devise roadmap for expanded trade

Iraq and its northern neighbour Turkey will hold a series of meetings in the coming weeks to devise a roadmap for increasing bilateral trade, which hit an all-time high of nearly $15 billion in 2024. “There is a plan in this respect and it has been prepared with the help of various Iraqi economic parties… […]

Saudi Arabia and the UAE are leading a Gulf push to transform their electricity grids into 'smart' networks

Foreign companies cash in as Gulf turns to smart power grids

Saudi Arabia and the UAE are among the Gulf states investing billions to make their electricity grids “smart” using artificial intelligence – and increase their share of generation from solar and wind power. That share is expected to almost double in the Middle East and North Africa over the next five years. It will rise […]

Tourists in AlUla, Saudi Arabia. Visitors to the country will soon be able to claim back VAT on purchases

Saudi Arabia to expand VAT base as oil prices fall

Saudi Arabia has introduced new regulations allowing visitors to the country to claim back value added tax (VAT) to facilitate the tourism industry, but it plans to widen the tax base to include online transactions.  The world’s second largest oil producer is facing a steep decline in international oil prices on which the government relies […]

Morocco World Cup loans: Quartier Habous, Casablanca. A rail project will link the city to Marrakesh

Morocco to borrow for World Cup rail and airport projects

Morocco is planning to seek loans to fund multi-billion dollar rail and airport projects as it prepares to co-host the Fifa World Cup in 2030, according to a minister. The projects include a high speed train network linking the commercial capital of Casablanca on the Atlantic with Marrakesh and a new civilian airport in Casablanca, […]

Construction accounts for almost a quarter of total foreign workers in Oman

Bangladeshis dominate foreign labour in Oman

Nearly 1.8 million foreigners work in Oman and more than a third of them are from Bangladesh, a major source of labour for oil-rich Gulf nations, according to official data. Around 637,000 Bangladeshis work in the sultanate, accounting for nearly 35 percent of the total expatriate labour force, reports the April bulletin of the National […]