Volkswagen Group CEO Herbert Diess has announced that both Audi and Porsche will enter Formula 1 in 2026, coinciding with the entry into force of the new technical regulation concerning power units.
A confirmation that was not surprising, since rumors relating to the interest of the German group had leaked a year ago on the eve of the Austrian Grand Prix. The rumors in recent months have gone further, revealing more details on the planned program for Porsche, which will join Red Bull with a synergy between the German company and the ‘powertrain’ department launched last year by the Milton Keynes team is already operational after the acquisition of many ex-Mercedes technicians.
Porsche F1 concept
Photo by: Camille De Bastiani
In the Miami paddock there was talk of how this collaboration will be structured, and there are those who claim that Porsche will be entrusted with the design and construction of the endothermic V6 while Red Bull will take care of the hybrid part.
For now they are rumors, rumors that will be verified in the long term, while the Audi program is more topical. In this case we are not talking about a supply of power units to a team already present in Formula 1, but about the acquisition of a team, which will become the official team of the “four rings” with a total project, car and engine.
Audi logo
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
This program currently presents two obstacles that the managers of the German company will have to overcome. The first is obviously to find an agreement with an owner willing to sell their team, an operation that three or four years ago would have been relatively simple, but today (thanks to the good moment that Formula 1 is experiencing) it is less obvious and more expensive. THE
Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin AMR22
Photo by: Jerry Andre / Motorsport Images
The team indicated as most eligible for Audi managers is Aston Martin. The enthusiasm of the owner Lawrence Stroll is proportional to the results obtained on the track, so it is easy to assume that the reasons that led the Canadian magnate to acquire Force India in 2018 may no longer be the same as four years ago. Plan ‘B’ is Williams, a structure that however needs more investments on the technical front.
Nicholas Latifi, Williams FW44
Photo by: Williams
However, Audi’s problems are not limited to acquiring a team, an operation that could also take place relatively quickly. If she manages to become the owner of a team, it will be necessary to understand how the project will be managed in the three-year period 2023-2025, a period in which the power units will remain those currently in use after the freeze occurred at the beginning of this season.
For the German brand, acquiring a team powered by a Mercedes engine (or in any case by a power unit built by a competing manufacturer) is not justifiable on the marketing front, just as it is realistically difficult to think that in Ingolstadt they can design and build a PU with the specifications. currently in effect only to be used a single season or two.
The Mercedes power unit that is also supplied to Williams and Aston Martin: one of the two teams will become Audi
Photo by: Uncredited
“Without considering – confided an insider – that the competition would not be enthusiastic to see an engineer build a new power unit in a period of technical freeze”.
On paper, there are two solutions. The first is considered a sort of ‘mission impossible’, since it would involve convincing one of the current power unit manufacturers (in the case of the acquisition of Aston Martin or Williams it would be Mercedes) to brand its engine as Audi.
We are talking about manufacturers that compete daily on the world automotive market, and in the paddock no one is willing to bet a single euro on this scenario. The alternative is to remain silent partners, or to acquire ownership of the team (starting to model it with investments that are deemed necessary) but without any official announcement.
Even in the event that the news of the change of ownership were to leak, without a confirmation from the parties concerned and with the rankings that still show the current names, it would not be a coming out. It would obviously be a facade solution, but today the facade is often more important than the foundations themselves, especially when it comes to large builders.
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