Now we can say with certainty: the Volkswagen group will enter Formula 1 through its most prestigious motorsport “luxury brands”, Audi and Porsche. The news was officially confirmed by the CEO of the German company Herbert Diess in a speech, also broadcast live on youtube, with the staff from Wolfsburg, the headquarters of the German giant, in which the manager talked about the transformation plans, future projects and Formula 1.
The number one of the German group during yesterday’s meeting made official his commitment to the most important motorsport category: “Volkswagen does not enter Formula 1. It is not a suitable brand and will not participate. But I can say this: the premium brands have decided to enter Formula 1 with our support. As for Porsche, the project is already relatively concrete. As for Audi, however, not so much yet.”
The news was in the air and the decisions taken in the F1 Commission meeting, held in London last Tuesday, removed the last reservations of the top management of the German automobile giant. The commission has basically accepted all the technical and economic requests of the Volkswagen group, so that its entry can guarantee an immediate competitiveness of the future power units of Audi and Porsche.
The Formula 1 system, as a whole, could not afford to give up the opportunity to share its destiny with brands of enormous prestige and, above all, to renounce the German giant’s pharaonic investment to support its program in the top racing series. It is likely that the temptation of this new challenge was instilled by Stefano Domenicali who from 2014 to 2016 held the role of Vice President of New Business Initiatives of Audi and who is today the CEO of Liberty Media Formula One Group.
According to the BBC, Stefano Domenicali was entrusted with a feasibility study of the F1 project a few months after the entry of the Volkswagen group which highlighted the ROI (Return on investment) of Mercedes in the 2014 season equal to about 2.8 billion dollars , while the total revenue relating to the Volkswagen group’s sports activities did not exceed 30 million dollars, not to mention the enormous return on the brand’s image.
At the time nothing came of it also due to the bad relationship between Ferdinand Piech, grandson of Ferdinand Porsche as well as boss of the Volkswagen group, and Bernie Ecclestone, the former Formula 1 boss before selling to Liberty Media.
Volkswagen succumbed to the long courtship of Formula 1 only after having received the guarantees of being able to operate in a regulation framework that would enhance its technological background gained in other disciplines of motorsport, without having to go through a lengthy learning process before being able to compete at the highest levels.
The freezing of the Audi program in the LMDh class has in fact launched an unequivocal signal of interest towards Formula 1 and sent a clear message regarding the perimeter of its know-how, beyond which it was not willing to invest.
The economic consistency of the Volkswagen group’s commitment to Formula One will be massive, however there is a lot of curiosity about the nature of the sports program of the Audi and Porsche brands. For some time there have been rumors of official support for Red Bull and McLaren starting from 2026, however the brands of the Wolfsburg giant have also been combined with other teams such as Sauber according to the suggestive hypothesis of Woking team principal Andreas Seidl.
As reported by funoanalisitecnica.com, it will be interesting to understand if the future turbo-hybrid units of Audi and Porsche will have a different paternity or it will be the same engine distinguishable only by the logo affixed to the respective heads.
The issue of distinct intellectual property is a very sensitive problem that already raises concern in relation to the possible knowledge transfer from Red Bull Powertrains to the future supplier of the turo-hybrid units of the Milton Keynes team. Another point of attention is the concrete possibility that starting from 2026 two teams powered by brands belonging to the same industrial entity can fight for the constructors’ title.
The potential pairs Red Bull / Porsche and McLaren / Audi have all the credentials to aspire to the world title, however in Formula 1 it has rarely been that two teams fought for the highest stakes using the same engine and also the prestige of the teams makes it difficult to imagine they would agree to an A-Team and B-Team status.
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The most recent such situation dates back to the three-year period 1995-97 when Williams and Benetton were both powered by the V10 Renault RS7 and in those circumstances there was no lack of controversy and disagreements over any favoritism from the French manufacturer. In a potential context of Audi-Porsche technological hegemony, all the conditions for a serious conflict of interest could be created, to the extent that the parent company from Wolfsburg intended to enhance and invest in one of its “luxury brands” rather than the other in in relation to mere needs dictated by the automotive market.
A further concern of some teams is the growing interest of the so-called B-Teams in future German engines. If Sauber also combined future sporting destinies with one of the two brands of the Volkswagen group, there would be no less than four teams out of ten with Audi or Posche engines, considering the partnerships with Red Bull, Alpha Tauri and McLaren as certain.
If from a sporting point of view future collaborations could weaken the contribution of the B-Teams of Ferrari and Mercedes, it is equally important to consider the enormous political weight that would be centralized in the hands of the Volkswagen group. Formula 1 bosses welcome with satisfaction the Volkswagen group’s confirmation about entering the sport, but will have to demonstrate that they can manage a new sporting and political dimension that is unprecedented in the history of the most important motorsport series.
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