Georg Kacher on VW’s fresh F1 flirtation
Audi and Porsche are considering joining Formula 1, and could make a decision this spring about whether one or both will press ahead with the surprise move. Major rule changes due to come into e ect with the 2025 season, lowering costs and going greener. These could tempt new teams with the prospect of a more level playing field. Porsche boss Oliver Blume said: ‘The good thing is that everybody starts at zero.’ But he also said: ‘To turn it into viable business case which dovetails with our core brand values, the regulations need to change so that Porsche can broadly identify with the new environment-friendly priorities.’ Meanwhile, an Audi spokesman flatly denied that F1 is an option.
At the end of 2020, Audi and Porsche held preliminary discussions with the FIA, sounding out eventual F1 opportunities. Early this year, they were in the final stages of defining their motorsport strategies and potential synergy e ects. By the end of May, both Audi and Porsche intend to submit business plans to their respective boards of directors.
Audi recently pulled out of DTM and is currently in Formula E, but will drop that in favour of the Dakar and a return to its happiest hunting ground, Le Mans. Porsche is also in Formula E, and has signed up for endurance racing’s new hybrid era.
Options under discussion include Porsche entering as a manufacturer, using its own engines, and at the other end of the spectrum Audi becoming the new engine supplier for Red Bull; there’s also support for various possible scenarios in between.
All sound a bit unlikely? Just remember that the Williams and McLaren F1 teams both have former VW Group personnel in senior positions, and that Audi boss Duesmann formerly ran the BMW F1 team.