In the same week it confirmed a five-year plan to win the world championship by 2030, Audi has announced a driver development programme which will scout and nurture young talent from karting through the single-seater ladder, and perhaps ultimately to Formula 1.
The move places Audi in the mainstream of F1 teams, the majority of which operate similar schemes with varying degrees of structure. With the exception of Nico Rosberg, every world champion for the past 16 years has passed through a works team's talent-management machinery – although Sauber, the team Audi has bought, gave Raikkonen his F1 break after only a handful of car races.
