Audi and Porsche in F1: What Would It Look Like?
While this week has been flooded with excitement surrounding the inaugural Miami Grand Prix, social media has also been buzzing with news that Audi and Porsche look set to join Formula One in 2026.
While there hasn’t been an official announcement as of yet, Herbert Diess, CEO of the Volkswagen Group, spoke at an event in Wolfsburg on Monday and said that Volkswagen would allow Audi and Porsche to enter Formula One. The Volkswagen Group owns a number of well-established global car and motorcycle brands such as Audi, Bentley, Ducati, Lamborghini, Porsche, and countless others, and their argument in favour of participating in Formula One comes down to two factors: money and exposure.
Diess said Monday that joining the sport would ultimately be more profitable than costly for the company. Additionally, the global reach of the sport—one that continues to grow rapidly—is so enticing that Diess claimed it could be beneficial enough for Porsche to reduce its racing activities in other disciplines and focus more heavily on a Formula One entry.
So what would such a move do to the grid in 2026?
It’s currently understood that if their plan comes to fruition, Porsche may agree to terms with Red Bull, where the constructor could be registered as Red Bull Racing-Porsche. There are existing motorsport links between Red Bull and Volkswagen, notably in the FIA World Rally Championship, where Volkswagen had a dominant four-year run with Red Bull from 2013 to 2016. In that time, Volkswagen Motorsport won four straight manufacturers’ championships while Sébastien Ogier scored four Drivers' titles for the German outfit.
As for Audi, they appear prepared to spend around 500 million euros ($556.30 million) to buy McLaren Racing. It's well known how expensive Formula One operations can be, with the barriers to enter the sport having risen considerably over the last two decades. A major organization like Volkswagen, however, certainly appears to have the money at hand to make such an endeavour work. Despite these rumours, McLaren is not for sale, according to team principal and CEO Zak Brown, who dismissed the news by stating:
"If they decide (to come in) then there's a conversation to be had but at this point we don't want to have any conversations until we know someone is committed to the sport.”
To understand a major factor in Volkswagen’s decision to dive into the world of Formula One, one has to look at their commitment to electric vehicle production. Globally, no traditional car maker has leaned into electric vehicles more than Volkswagen. The company is spending billions of dollars on its EV initiatives, and it’s predicted by LMC Automotive—an automotive-focused intelligence service provider—that by 2025, Volkswagen will lead all electric car makers in global car sales, surpassing the likes of General Motors, Tesla, and Renault-Nissan. It’s also notable that Porsche has been participating in Formula E since 2019, while Audi has been involved in Formula E since the series’ very first season in 2014.
What does this have to do with their involvement in Formula One? Volkswagen's decision could very well come down to whether the sport stays on course with their plans to switch to synthetic fuels by 2026. Volkswagen has actively tried to restore its public image after the notorious Dieselgate emissions scandal and has been making efforts to follow carbon reduction targets imposed by government officials.
Would Formula One solve these issues? Will Max Verstappen be winning championships with a Porsche power unit behind his head? Could Pato O’Ward or Colton Herta be driving beside Lando Norris in an Audi? The answers are unknown, but it appears the company agrees that these are multi-million-dollar questions worth asking.