Audi F1 engine boss leaves in another management change

Audi Formula 1 engine chief Adam Baker has departed the programme "by mutual agreement", Audi has revealed as part of its latest F1 restructuring.

It means the Audi F1 project at the top is now effectively completely recognisable compared to when it was revealed - with the change on the engine side adding to the metamorphoses the project had undergone on the team/chassis side.

Audi CEO (chief executive officer) Gernot Dollner - who had replaced Markus Duesmann in the role after Audi's F1 project had already been announced - said: "We would like to thank Adam Baker for his commitment over the past years. He played a decisive role in shaping the overall strategic concept for the entry of Audi into Formula 1 and got the development of the power unit in Neuburg off the ground."

Baker's official role as CEO of Audi Formula Racing GmbH has been "eliminated as part of the reorganisation", but his responsibilities will be assumed by Christian Foyer, appointed as COO (chief operating officer).

Foyer has been described by Audi as a combustion engine specialist and "a proven expert in process structures in F1 powertrain development". The specifics of his prior involvement with F1 projects aren't publicly available.

Long-time Audi engineer Stefan Dreyer will remain as the CTO (chief technical officer) while also becoming the spokesperson for the management board of Audi's F1 engine company. 

Audi says the changes are intended to "align its F1 project even more consistently with the synergies and working methods of a factory team" and thus bring the various moving parts more "under the overall leadership of Mattia Binotto".

The former Ferrari F1 boss took over the reins of the project last year, replacing Andreas Seidl - who had originally left McLaren to head up the Audi F1 programme - and Oliver Hoffmann.