It seemed certain that Porsche would join forces with Red Bull Racing from 2026, but the deal collapsed. The two parties did not agree on how much control each would get. Last time, there were rumours that Porsche had definitely put a Formula 1 entry out of its mind, but the fork seems to be slightly different.
No line has yet been drawn on the project of bringing Porsche to the king class of motorsport, but nothing concrete is playing out at the moment either. F1 Insider Asked Porsche about the state of play. "Formula 1 remains an interesting racing series for us. That is why we are looking at whether there are other viable options. We will not let ourselves be forced into a decision we are not convinced of," said CFO Lutz Meschke.
Porsche must look further afield
The German brand's other options within Formula 1 are limited. Audi seems to be teaming up with Sauber/Alfa Romeo, leaving only a limited number of racing teams. According to the aforementioned medium, Porsche mainly has McLaren and Williams in its sights, teams with which Audi was also previously linked. Ex-Porsche man Andreas Seidl is currently at McLaren and former Volkswagen chief Jost Capito is active at Williams, so there are short(er) lines of communication.
Porsche's plan was to develop the electric part of the Red Bull Powertrain powerplant, but the Stuttgart-based company reportedly no longer necessarily needs to build its own engine. In fact, Audi, which is also part of the Volkswagen Group, is already going to develop its own engine. That power unit could be fitted with a Porsche logo.