The Volkswagen Group has long been considering entering F1 on the next generation of power units due to arrive in 2026, and its Porsche and Audi brands have been and have played a key role in meetings on that future regulation.
Porsche has been linked with Red Bull since the departure of the team’s previous power unit partner Honda , and the formation of a new powertrain division by Red Bull in Milton Keynes .
Multiple sources have confirmed to Motorsport-Total.com , sister site to Motorsport.com, that talks between Red Bull and Porsche are so advanced that the deal only needs approval from supervisory bodies within the Volkswagen Group.
That could come as soon as March, provided no new hurdles appear, which would ensure Porsche’s return to the F1 grid as a power unit supplier. Red Bull motorsports consultant Helmut Marko and fellow Austrian Fritz Enzinger , the Volkswagen Group’s director of motorsports, have been instrumental in forging ties in the association.
The senior officials of Red Bull and Porsche have not wanted to reveal anything about the negotiations. Marko told ServusTV last year that he had “talked to a lot of companies in the past.” And when asked about the rumors of talks between Porsche and Red Bull, he said: “We keep talking. But nothing is agreed.”
Porsche chief executive Oliver Blume , who was present at the engine meetings, was upbeat about F1’s planned switch to synthetic fuels, while Porsche motorsport boss Thomas Laudenbach said in November that the conditions for a possible entry were already “come true”.
Marko revealed last month that Honda will continue to directly supply engines to Red Bull until the end of 2025, which will ensure that Red Bull Powertrains or any potential new partners (such as Porsche) would enjoy concessions from 2026 when bids are filed. new power units.
Red Bull Racing RB18
The formation of Red Bull’s own powertrain program in Milton Keynes is attractive to Porsche and provides flexibility in terms of where power unit development takes place. Parts of the future F1 project would be done from Weissach, Germany.
Porsche came close to returning to F1 in 2017, but the extension of F1’s power unit rules beyond 2021 scuttled those plans. His LMP1 program in the WEC came to an end in 2017 and they switched to Formula E, but he will return to the top class of sports car racing at Le Mans next year when his LMDh program begins.
F1 has been hard at work during meetings on future power units for 2026 with the aim of making the rules attractive to the Volkswagen Group, putting the focus on the use of electronic fuels and removing the MGU-H , something that it was agreed at the end of last year.
The FIA World Motor Sport Council confirmed in December that it would drop the MGU-H, but would keep the 1.6-litre V6 engine, combined with increased electric power and the introduction of a cost cap for the development of the unit. of power
Regardless of the Porsche talks, Audi has also been linked to McLaren, which currently has a Mercedes engine.
McLaren issued a statement in November denying that Audi had bought it, but held talks with the German marque and said in January that it would be happy to wait for the VW Group’s decision on whether to enter (and join) F1 or not.
