Audi Legends Reunite for First Look at the New Formula 1 Car

[Source: The Shmuseum / YouTube]

This week at the Audi Brand Experience Center the world got their first glimpse of the new Audi Formula 1 car. To help celebrate the exciting milestone of the Audi R26 Concept, were all the living Audi motorsport icons. British YouTuber Tim Burton, better known as Shmee150 on social media, was on hand to capture the festivities.

If we asked you to name all of the biggest racing stars in Audi history what would your list look like? Michele Mouton and Fabrizia Pons would of course make the cut. As would Tom Kristensen, Hans Joachim Stuck, and Stig Blomqvist. And you can’t forget Dindo Capello, Harald Demuth and Frank Biela. They were all on hand to take in the Audi Formula 1 car reveal. Talk about a start-studded event. But it wasn’t just the amazing driving talent in attendance, it was the cars as well.

Shortly after arriving Burton finds himself in an Audi Tradition garage. Just about every iconic Audi that you can imagine is tucked away in here. RS 2 Avant? Of course. Sport quattro? Yup, the first one ever built. The list goes on and on. It is incredible to see all of these wonderful cars huddled together.

And it doesn’t stop with just road cars. Several Le Mans-winning Audi race cars are also on display. As is a selection of memorabilia and car models. Mind blowing stuff.

The next stop is a visit to the Audi Concept C. While looking at that, Nico Hülkenberg casually wanders by and greets Burton. He can’t seem to take more than a few steps without bumping into a famous driver. What an event.

Finally, it is time to look closer at the R26 Concept. It does not yet wear the race livery, but we see the color scheme. The boldest color is Lava Red that should really help the car pop when it is out on the grid. The car looks great. Could we eventually see an Audi RS street car that has a color scheme inspired by this F1 car? We don’t know, but we would love that to happen.

Next up is a trip to a handling course. Burton is behind the wheel of an RS Q8. A great car, but nothing compared to the other cars on hand. And Audi quattro rally car, an Audi 90 IMSA GTO racer and even an Auto Union Typ C is ripping around the course. The sights and the sounds of these cars is simply overwhelming.

The video wraps up with a conversation with “Mr. Le Mans” himself, Tom Kristensen. He shared that when he speaks to other legendary Audi drivers, they rarely speak about the cars anymore. It is about family and grandchildren. But that doesn’t mean the driving passion is gone. Kristensen reveals that the race cars being driven all have very little fuel in them. Audi did that on purpose because they knew if the cars had a full tank, that the drivers would stay out on the course all night. And who would blame them?

To watch the full video yourself, click HERE.