Breaking: Porsche or Audi could join F1

Negative Camber

Oct 1, 2010

Porsche or Audi could be on the Formula 1 grid soon, Porsche chairman Matthias Mueller said Friday at the Paris Motor Show.

That’s right. Porsche may return to F1 or Audi might bring the rings to battle the Prancing Horse and the bulls and… umm…. a virgin?

Here he is, via Autocar:

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“With LMP1, there are two classes and two brands – Audi and Porsche. We do not like to both go into LMP1 [against each other]; that is not so funny.
“So therefore we have to discuss whether it makes better sense for one of the [two] brands to go into LMP1, and the other brand into Formula 1. So we will have a round-table to discuss the pros and cons.”
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I love the “that is not so funny” quote. Paging Red Bull!

The idea seems to be — this part is obvious — that one of the brands goes to Le Mans and the other into F1. On the F1 front, Porsche likely would return as an engine supplier, and Autocar adds this:

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Autocar also understands VW Group’s vice president for powertrains Wolfgang Hatz has been heavily involved in discussions with the FIA regarding the proposed new four-cylinder turbocharged engines the sport plans to introduce from 2013.
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(Quick digression: I love, LOVE the “Autocar also understands” phrase. I get it, but it sounds soooo Transformers.)

OK, I’m not sure that there was a story that drove more people crazy (at least in the F1B Forum) than “Audi to F1″. But here it is, right from the brand’s mouth.

Should Cosworth be a bit worried? How does a Williams-Porsche (or BMW Sauber Ferrari Porsche) team sound? How would you go about entering the sport if you were the VW group? And why the idea that Audi might switch series? That seems strange given its success and the great battle it now has with Peugeot.