'Team representative' Alessandro Alunni Bravi has moved to end speculation that Audi may call off its works Formula 1 project in collaboration with Sauber.
In Austin, rumours continued to swirl around the paddock that the VW-owned marque might either pull out of the 2026 takeover deal completely or hand it over to Porsche.
Veteran Swiss journalist Roger Benoit, writing in Blick newspaper, dismissed the speculation as being powered by the "envy" of rival teams, upset that Audi and Sauber are offering high wages for talented F1 recruits.
Nominal team boss Bravi confirmed to the Belgian broadcaster RTBF in Austin on Sunday that the Audi-Sauber project is still at full steam ahead.
"The Audi project is extremely exciting," he insisted.
"There is a lot of work to be done but everything is well aligned. It is a solid and important project. It is the most exciting project in the last ten years in Formula 1," the Italian lawyer said.
Bravi is not the team principal at Sauber, which is currently known as Alfa Romeo, but he is the nominal boss at grands prix as Andreas Seidl focuses on the Audi future back at Hinwil HQ.
Bravi himself is better known as a driver manager, initially working alongside Nicolas Todt and his talents but also founding his own management company that supports Robert Kubica, Stoffel Vandoorne and others.
"I actually became a lawyer to be able to fight against the mafia in Italy," Bravi smiled in Austin. "It was very important in my career because it gave me a lawyer's structure in my daily life.
"But motorsport is a unique passion, so I had the chance to work as an F1 journalist and I then tried to seize this opportunity to work as a lawyer in the world of F1, particularly with young drivers and teams."
