Despite rumours to the contrary, Alessandro Alunni Bravi insists that Audi remains committed to entering the sport in 2026.

One of the wilder rumours doing the rounds in the last couple of weeks concerned Audi, with some claiming that the German manufacturer is having second thoughts about entering the sport in 2026.

Seemingly core to the speculation was an alleged change of attitude towards the sport by senior management, which itself has undergone a reshuffle, and an overall lack of news updates.

Speaking at Interlagos, Alfa Romeo boss, Alessandro Alunni Bravi was keen to play down the rumours.

"Audi has a strong commitment to Formula 1, and of course together with Sauber," he said, Alfa Romeo set to morph back into Sauber next season before rebranding in 2026.

"This commitment comes from a decision not only of the board of Audi but also the advisory board of Audi and the Supervisory Board of Audi/Volkswagen," he continued. "So it's a group decision and the commitment is there.

"Why there is a lack of communication is simple," he added. "We are Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake. So until the end of the year, we have certain limitations in communicating about the team, about the future, about the involvement of Audi, and we fully respect Alfa Romeo for this and we don't want to make any kind of announcement or more than what is strictly related to the race and the championship.

"The commitment, as I said, is there. We are working hard to develop the structure of the team. We have a strong recruitment plan in place. James Key is one, but we have on a weekly basis new appointments.

"And it's not a matter of, you know, the involvement of Audi in financing the team or sustaining this development process," he insisted. "We have two owners, you know, two shareholders, there is a governance in place according to the different stages of the transaction that will be completed ahead of the 2026 season and so we are proceeding with the investment plan, with everything, in accordance with the governance that has been agreed.

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