When Audi confirmed its entry into Formula 1 for 2026, acquiring Sauber and committing to a full works programme, the competitive ambition was obvious.
What followed commercially was more complex – before a car had run under the new name, before the four rings appeared on track, Audi’s commercial team was asking partners to buy into something still taking shape.
When the drivers take to the track at the season-opening Qatar Airways Australian Grand Prix, the results of the labour of Audi Revolut F1 Team Chief Commercial Officer Stefano Battiston and his colleagues will be on show for all to see.
“We invested a lot of time in our sales presentations and in all our materials that we have,” he told Sector.
“I’m a very visual guy and we had to make sure that the vision that we have is quite clear to everybody, because sometimes it’s not only teams that we compete against when we talk about partners, it’s even a Champions League, it’s even a football club, it’s whoever – but obviously we were missing that tangible piece, a car.
“So every time we presented to potential partners who might want to come on this journey, the vision had to be crystal clear.”
Without a finished car to point to, the pitch had to be built around direction rather than delivery as the proposals were crafted around something that at that stage was abstract.
“I think the story that we had and how we envisioned to bring the brands to life, or how we can create that partnership, was really strong,” added Battiston.
“It’s the way where we talk about partnerships more than a transactional one-way relationship, but more into building a multi-brand powerhouse and showing them what we mean as a team and how we want to bring that to life.”
A blessing in disguise
That “multi-brand powerhouse” concept sits at the centre of Audi’s early commercial build, with Battiston describing it not as sponsorship stacking, but as platform building.
“It’s great if we have a one-way relationship with BP and one-way relationship with Revolut,” he said.
Maybe it was a blessing that we didn’t have a car on track because we could basically focus on all these substantial content plans.
Stefano Battiston
“But imagine bringing these two guys together and just the customer base that BP has in the UK and the customer base that Revolut has in the UK – if you can bring them together and we are just the platform that they can use and they can generate value out of it.
“I think this was what we really worked on and maybe it was also a blessing that we didn’t have a car on track because we could basically focus on all these substantial content plans.
“We were able to make sure that we have clearly in mind what we wanted to bring to life with the team and how we want to position it and how we want to help our partners to succeed at the end of the day.”
Being able to work on what they could offer to prospective brands became the adopted approach, something that might not have been the case if there was a car waiting for logos to be plastered on its livery.
Challenger brands
The arrival of Revolut as title partner felt like a natural fit – a digital-first brand joining a new F1 entrant in its own maiden sponsorship deal in the sport made sense to Battiston.
“Everything we do is intentional in the sense of we do it for the vision we have and we do it for the belief we have and how we believe we want to build the team,” he added.
“When we first met, I think we already figured that there is a great match in terms of what we want to achieve, in terms of the journey we are on.
“Revolut is a challenger, we are a challenger, both ambitious and I think we could both profit from each other so it was quite quickly identified as a win-win, a clear statement of intent that it fits the overall strategy and it fits the journey we are on.”
Curated, not crowded
From the outset, Audi’s commercial team resisted the temptation to simply fill inventory.
It would have been a challenge to have every available asset on the debuting R26 sold to a brand that met the aforementioned requirements of Battiston’s team.
“We have what we like to call a curated set of partners,” he explained.
“We want to make sure that the partners we have fit into our strategy and fit into this multi-brand powerhouse ecosystem where we can be the platform.
“So we had a clear list of requirements or list of characteristics that we were looking for when we talked about potential partners.”
As well as having partners that fit into the ethos of the new Audi team, Battistion explained how the process also included singling out key categories to target from the outset.
“One was obviously a technology partner with fuel and lubricants, which we had to identify quite early,” he said, with bp and Castrol signed on at the start of the process.
“Then the second one is – and I think this is also a brand shaper at the very end – is the apparel partner, the teamwear partner.”
For that, Audi signed a deal with fellow German brand adidas, which only entered F1 for the first time in 2025 as a partner of the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team.
For us, it was really important within this whole strategy that we had that we wanted to bring F1 to the people, that we wanted to build a sports team that is culturally relevant.
Stefano Battiston
Getting an apparel partner that could deliver on such a scale was an important factor for a team which was launching its first clothing ranges.
“It had to be a priority, firstly because of the lead times you have with apparel, and second of all because there is nothing that gets you closer to a team than a piece of apparel and merchandise,” said Battiston.
“For us, it was really important within this whole strategy that we had that we wanted to bring F1 to the people, that we wanted to build a sports team that is culturally relevant. We knew that we need to have the right apparel partner with us.
“We wanted to have a team kit which resonates beyond motorsports, which basically somebody can also wear when they are just walking around.
“I think it was really important that this design process kicked up so early so that we also knew in our commercial strategy where can we place which logo and why do we place them there.”
Landmark deals signed with the likes of Revolut, bp, Castrol and adidas, the Audi commercial department could then start looking for further partnerships.
While the team remained open, Battiston was also keen to stay selective when it came to signing on the dotted line, with any deal having to also offer brand value to Audi itself.
“We didn’t want to block ourselves. We were quite open and we had lots of conversations, discussions, and some of them turned out positive. Others didn’t, but that’s part of the business,” he said.
“We’re a newcomer, we started with zero social media followers when we launched our channels. To bring that to a level and to build that community, we needed the right partners.
“These partners need to be willing to activate and these partners need to be willing to talk about the team. This is what then generates value for us, for the partner, but also for our other partners. That’s why I think we went for that curated set.”
Global by design
There was also no temptation, Battiston insisted, to build a commercially inward-looking operation centred purely on German brands.
“Audi is an international brand,” he said. “Audi is an iconic brand that is obviously German-based. It’s their headquarters.
“But I think Audi is a brand that is pure, that is global. So our intention was never to be a German-only team. Our intention was always to be a global team.”
He pointed to brands such as adidas and beer partner Paulaner as examples of companies with German heritage but international ambition.
“I think this is also the beauty of F1, or actually the USP of F1 – it’s the only global sport. Twenty-four cities, five continents.
“It’s just incredible and I think that’s why you need also international brands to bring that team actually to life. You can’t focus only on one market.”
The car is ready for 2026. Results, the team hopes, will follow in time – but commercially, Audi has had to sell something intangible – a direction, a structure and a platform not yet visible on track.
