Particle.news
Download on the App Store

Audi Names Ralph Boschung Development Driver for 2026 F1 Debut

The Swiss ex-F2 winner joins Allan McNish's new talent programme to aid development of Audi's 2026 car.

Overview

  • Boschung becomes part of Audi's newly launched Driver Development Programme alongside 17-year-old Freddie Slater.
  • Audi says Boschung will support R26 development and take an active role at the factory as the works project ramps up.
  • The 28-year-old raced in Formula 2 from 2017 to 2023 with one win for Campos, announced retirement in 2024, and then served as a simulator driver for Stake Sauber.
  • Audi enters Formula 1 as a works team in 2026 after the Sauber takeover and has retained Nico Hülkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto as its race line-up.
  • Programme director Allan McNish and team principal Jonathan Wheatley frame the scheme as a long-term pillar toward Audi's competitiveness target into the next decade.