Porsche’s aspirations to return to Formula 1 are now “a closed chapter”, as revealed by Thomas Laudenbach, head of the brand’s motorsports division.
Laudenbach’s comments that Porsche has no plans to return more than 30 years after last partnering with Footwork as an engine supplier in 1991 represent the brand’s first comments regarding an F1 entry since the full 2026 regulations were unveiled in June.
The comments come almost two years after it ended its then-potential partnership with Red Bull Racing, which would have seen it become a 50-50 owner of the team and its new powertrain division.
At that point, in September 2022, Porsche had still referred to F1 as “an attractive environment” in the statement announcing it would no longer pursue the Red Bull option, but Laudenbach has now said that “this is not a valid argument for us”.
“It’s out of the question: F1 is not for us at the moment and we are not spending energy on it,” he explained.
“We are just focused on what we do at the moment and, if you look closely, we have a lot of different activities: we are very busy and extremely satisfied with what we do.”
Laudenbach highlighted Porsche’s broad motorsport portfolio, describing it as “almost perfect for the brand.”
Pascal Wehrlein, Porsche, Porsche 99X Electric Gen3
Photo by: Andreas Beil
“We are involved in customer racing, from track days, to GT4, to one-make series up to professional GT racing. [in GT3]”, he explained.
“In addition, with our partner Penske, we participate in the two most important endurance racing series [il World Endurance Championship e il Campionato IMSA SportsCar con la 963 LMDh]”.
“The third part, because the electrification of our brand is very important, is our commitment to Formula E, which is the only fully electric series at a high level. I think we are really well served.”
Laudenbach also stated that Porsche is not interested in entering the IndyCar Series as an engine supplier.
In April 2022, Volkswagen announced that both Porsche and Audi brands were looking to enter F1 and that the plans were in the “final evaluation phase”.
For Porsche, those considerations included a tie-up with Red Bull that ultimately fell through because, it said, it was not possible to reach an agreement for the partnership it was seeking on a “level playing field.”
Red Bull boss Christian Horner later said there was a “strategic misalignment” and that the team did not want to undermine its “values and virtues”.
The Milton Keynes team then agreed a deal with Ford for 2026 to brand the new 2026 engine produced by Red Bull Powertrains.
Audi first announced its intention to enter F1 in ’26 as an engine supplier in August ’22 and then acquired a minority stake in Sauber early last year before completing its 100% acquisition this spring.
Porsche won just one world championship race during its first stint in F1 in the initial two years of the 1.5-litre formula from 1961, with Dan Gurney triumphing at the 1962 French Grand Prix at Rouen driving a Porsche 804.
Porsche was commissioned by McLaren to build the 1.5-litre turbo engine that ran under the TAG (Techniques d’Avant Garde) badge and which won the 1984, ’85 and ’86 world titles.
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