The Formula E organization keeps the Audi team license after the deadline for the sale has passed without signing any agreement.
It should be noted that during pre-season training in Valencia, Audi made public their decision to abandon the championship at the end of the current 2021 campaign.
As the owner of the franchise, Audi had the option to sell their spot, but now it will no longer earn money for the departure after not being able to close the talks on time.
Several interested parties tried to negotiate, but a formal contract could not be closed on time.
It may also interest you: Volkswagen surpassed Tesla in electric car sales, according to study
An Audi statement said: “As planned, this season will mark the end of the successful involvement with our factory team Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler and the licence will revert to the FEO at the end of the season as agreed in the regulations.
“There were talks with various interested parties, but for various reasons no contract could be closed.”
Team principal Allan McNish told to Motorsport.com: “There are some natural deadlines. You have technical deadlines and some contractual ones as well.
“We had a lot of discussions in December when it was clear we were stepping out.
“We tried very hard to make sure the entity, the team, lived on beyond, but unfortunately we couldn’t achieve it in the time scale.