According to Reuters, Volkswagen Group CEO Herbert Dees said that Audi and Porsche brands have completed financial actions in their plans to enter the Formula 1 Championship (F1). On May 2, Diss mentioned in a live video broadcast in Wolfsburg that the board of directors has been controversial about the entry of the two brands into the F1 event, but in the end, the two high-end brands participated in the F1 event and gained recognition due to potential economic gains.
Since F1 officially announced the change of technical rules in 2020, the outside world speculated that Volkswagen Group will join the event in the 2022 season, but this prediction did not come true in the end. According to F1 official news, on April 26, the F1 committee held a meeting in London to determine the new technical regulations framework for power units that will be adopted in 2026. The new power unit will retain the current 1.6-liter V6 hybrid turbocharged internal combustion engine, but will remove the MGU-H (thermal Energy Recovery System) and discard fossil fuels, introducing 100% sustainable fuel. This regulation is considered an important step towards sustainable development in F1 and automotive events, and is conducive to promoting environmental protection and promoting the research and development process of more environmentally friendly internal combustion engines. According to some speculation from the outside world, Porsche may enter the F1 event by providing power units to existing F1 teams, and Audi will participate as a sponsor. Since the new rules will bring the R&D of power units back to the same starting line, this will bring about changes in the overall competitive landscape of F1, which will help newly joined manufacturers participate in the competition. This may be one of the reasons Audi and Porsche decided to join F1 in 2026.
McLaren 2022 racing MCL36
Porsche's plan to join F1 is more specific than Audi's plan. Audi has not yet decided when to join which team. According to early internal news, Audi is trying to acquire British sports car maker McLaren for 500 million euros, which has a fleet of the same name. If Audi and McLaren don’t agree, Audi may consider Williams as an alternative. Porsche seems to be in a long-term partnership with Red Bull and its new world champion driver Max Verstappen. In early April, the Volkswagen Group Supervisory Board gave the green light to the two brands' plan to enter F1, but left the specific details to the brands themselves. Dis said: "Two high-end brands have decided to enter the F1 event."
Vistapan in the Red Bull Racing RB18 car
Obviously, F1's high advertising effect is very convincing. Porsche will reduce its focus on other automotive events and focus more resources on F1 events. Because Audi is positioned lower than Porsche, it can gain more than Porsche in the F1. When competing with Mercedes-Benz, Audi wants to strip away compact cars and focus more on luxury high-end models.
F1's new 2026 regulations will inevitably bring a lot of uncertainty to the competition in the paddock, and also give newcomers such as Audi and Porsche. The new regulation expresses F1 and the FIA's emphasis on environmental protection and sustainable development, and expresses the determination of fuel vehicle racing represented by F1 to continue to prosper in a new way in an environment where electric vehicles are increasingly valued. The addition of Audi and Porsche shows that Volkswagen Group recognizes this change. At present, fuel car racing is in a critical stage of transformation. Faced with the arrival of the electric era, the fate of these racing events is still to be questioned. However, a series of reform moves made by F1 events after 2020 provide a solution to the sustainable development of fuel vehicle events.
