The post-season game of musical chairs continues as McLaren's Andreas Seidl joins Sauber ahead of Audi's F1 debut in 2026.

While we have grown used to the annual round of musical chairs involving drivers, this time around it is the team principals who are stealing the limelight.

At the end of last month, Ferrari ended weeks of speculation when it announced that Mattia Binotto would be leaving the team.

Then, yesterday, it was announced that Jost Capito and (technical director) FX Demaison, who both have strong links to Volkswagen and thereby Audi, which has already announced its intention to enter F1 in 2026, and Porsche, which has yet to confirm its plans, were both leaving Williams.

This morning, Frederic Vasseur was confirmed as Binotto's replacement at Ferrari, leaving the team principal role at Alfa Romeo open.

In October Alfa Romeo announced that it was parting company with Sauber at the end of 2023, leaving the way open for Audi to announce that it was buying a significant stake in the Swiss outfit ahead of its 2026 debut.

Earlier today, our good friend Mat Coch at Speedcafe reported that Andreas Seidl was to leave McLaren to join Audi.

Though unconfirmed at the time, the move made sense, for, like Capito and Demaison, Seidl has strong connections with Volkswagen having been team principal of Porsche's highly successful WEC programme which netted three successive titles and Le Mans victories.

Sure enough, Sauber subsequently announced the German's recruitment.

"Sauber Group is delighted to announce the appointment of Andreas Seidl as its new Chief Executive Officer," read the release. "He will start in his new role in January 2023 and will be tasked with continuing the growth of the group as a whole as Sauber keeps establishing itself as one of the brightest sporting and industrial entities on the market.

"Andreas began his motorsport career with BMW's Formula 1 project, where he also worked as Head of Track Operations at Sauber for some years. As Team Principal at Porsche, Seidl later celebrated several world championships and three overall victories at the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans between 2015 and 2017, before moving on to become Team Principal of the McLaren F1 Team in 2019.

"Seidl will take over the CEO position from predecessor, Frederic Vasseur; together with the team Seidl will now work on the appointment of its new Team Principal, which will be communicated in due course.

"It is great to join the Sauber Group from January," said the German, "this is a team with a rich history in Formula One and an organisation I know really well from my time working and living in Hinwil for four years. I can't wait to join the team and work with all the colleagues at the Sauber Group on the ambitious goals we have set together. I want to thank Finn Rausing and everyone at the Sauber Group for their choice: I am looking forward to repaying their trust with my work."

"It is an immense pleasure to welcome Andreas Seidl back to Hinwil as CEO of the Sauber Group," added Finn Rausing, Sauber Holding AG Chairman of the Board of Directors. "Andreas's experience is second to none and he brings to Sauber Group a clear understanding of what is required to achieve sustained success. He takes over a company on an upward path and he shares our commitment to keeping our organisation growing: I look forward to many years of success together."

The move will surely come as a bitter blow to the Woking outfit which, following the Honda debacle, only seemed to get back on track when the German was recruited by Zak Brown.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by meatball, 19/12/2022 17:58

"Boy, Zac is just killing it! And by "it" I mean the Team. Losing Seidle is just one more nail in McLaren's coffin."

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2. Posted by kenji, 14/12/2022 0:09

"Would be interesting to hear some comments from Mark Webber after all it was, I believe, his relationship with Seidl in the first instance that paved the way forward for Piastri to get the McLaren drive. Nothing stands still in F1 and it is this dynamic that is so intriguing and seductive for the followers. What next?"

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3. Posted by ffracer, 13/12/2022 19:09

"Never thought that Seidl would jump, he was an immense force to steady the ship of McLaren, Stella has MAMMOTH shoes to fill... proves that anything can happen in F1"

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4. Posted by habentsen, 13/12/2022 16:07

"Did someone check where Ross Brawn is?"

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5. Posted by kenji, 13/12/2022 13:36

"When the dust settles it will be fascinating to see where the new directions will take us. Seidl is Sauber CEO and he's now on the hunt for a TP. Will it be internal or will it be an outsider? Rumour has it that Beat Zendher is in the frame but trying to second guess in the light of the last 24hrs might be wee bit foolish. Will Capito surface somewhere at Sauber? Of course ther has been very little lately on the Porsche side of things...will they also be making moves? Wow..it's all go. I am rather hoping that Andretti will also feature somewhere along the line."

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6. Posted by Lapps, 13/12/2022 13:31

"Quite a coup! To my mind Andreas is the most skilled Team Principal currently in F1. He made an instant impact when he joined McLaren. Sadly McLaren seem to be on the (financial) skids.
Interesting times!"

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7. Posted by Max Noble, 13/12/2022 11:22

"Makes Game of Gnomes, sorry, Thrones, look like the fantasy it is. These are classic Throne Moves for the coming five years. Williams on a slight up… McLaren on a strong down…? Audi in circles. Simple question… when has a customer team ever beaten their engine supplier…? So much more exciting than all this on track track-limits, and yield the corner crap! We all know where we stand with a good legal case and million dollar a day lawyers!"

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Seidl joins Sauber and thereby Audi

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