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F1 a "closed chapter" for Porsche after failed Red Bull bid
Porsche had been seeking a tie-in with Red Bull before talks broke down
Gary Watkins
Edited: Aug 13, 2024, 9:23 AM
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Porsche’s aspirations to return to Formula 1 are now “a closed chapter”, the marque’s motorsport boss Thomas Laudenbach has revealed.
Laudenbach’s assertion that Porsche has no plans for a comeback more than 30 years on from its last engagement as an engine supplier with Footwork in 1991 represent the manufacturer's first comments about an F1 entry since the full unveiling of the 2026 regulations in June.
They follow nearly two years on from the breakdown of its prospective partnership with Red Bull Racing that would have involved it becoming a 50% owner of the team and its new powertrain division
At that stage, in September 2022, Porsche still talked about F1 as “an attractive environment” in the statement announcing that it was no longer pursuing the Red Bull option, but now Laudenbach has now stated that it is “not a topic for us”.
“It is off the table: right now F1 is not a task for us and we are not spending any energy on that," he explained.
“We are only focused on what we do right now, and if you look at it, we have many different activities: we are well-occupied and extremely happy with what we do.”
Laudenbach pointed to Porsche’s wide motorsport portfolio, describing it as “nearly the perfect fit for the brand”.
Pascal Wehrlein, Porsche, Porsche 99X Electric Gen3
Photo by: Andreas Beil
“We are engaged in customer racing from track days, GT4, one-make series up to professional GT racing [in GT3],” he explained.
“On top of that we are racing in the two most important endurance racing series [the World Endurance Championship and IMSA SportsCar Championship with the 963 LMDh] with our partner Penske.
“The third part, since electrification of our brand is very important, is our engagement in Formula E, which is the only full-electric series on a high level.
“I think we are really well served.”
Laudenbach also stated that Porsche had no interest in joining the IndyCar Series as an engine supplier.
Volkswagen announced in April 2022 that both its Porsche and Audi brands were pursuing F1 entries and that plans were in the “final evaluation phase”.
For Porsche those evaluations involved a link-up with Red Bull that ultimately foundered because, it said, the partnership it sought based on an “equal footing” could not be achieved.
Red Bull boss Christian Horner subsequently said that there was a “strategic non-alignment” and that the team didn’t want to diminish its “values and virtues”.
The Milton Keynes-based squad subsequently agreed a deal with Ford for 2026 to badge the new 2026 engine produced by Red Bull Powertrains.
Audi announced its intent to enter F1 for the first time in ’26 as an engine supplier in August ’22 and then took a minority stake in Sauber early last year before completing a 100% takeover this spring.
Porsche won a single world championship race during its first stint in F1 for the opening two years of the 1.5-litre formula starting in 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 with TAG (Techniques d’Avant Garde) badges and claimed the 1984, ’85 and ’86 world titles.
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