For months we have been talking in the paddock about the probable entry of two brands of the Volkswagen group – Audi and Porsche – in Formula 1 starting from the 2026 season. There will be two fundamental points of the project: at the beginning of December there will be the board of directors in which the definitive go-ahead will be decided and on 15 December it will then be the turn of the FIA World Council, called to ratify the regulatory changes in view of 2026. Among these, as is well known, the abolition of the MGU-H, specifically requested by the German brand for entry into the highest category of motoring. Audi and Porsche are thus looking for possible future partnerships and four teams currently on the starting grid have been targeted: McLaren, Red Bull, Williams and Sauber.
The publications Auto Motor und Sport And The Race they told of a first approach that has already taken place between the Audi top management and those of McLaren, to explore the possibility of purchasing the entire company or just the racing team. But, at least at the moment, the English group – in which MSP Sports Capital has recently joined with a 15% stake – is not interested in selling and thus rejected the proposal to the sender. As for Porsche, the hypothesis of a partnership with Red Bull is still standing, but the Williams idea is also making its way, with Helmut Marko declaring: “They need three years to build a winning team, while with us they would have the pressure of having to win now“. With the Red Bull-Porsche combination, the rival teams have already raised their antennas, worried about a parallel development to converge that would entail double the hours at the counter granted to the other teams, as well as a breach of the spending ceiling.
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