Porsche motorsport boss Thomas Laudenbach has mentioned that the legendary German marque has no intention of getting into F1.
It wasn’t that way back that F1 was salivating on the prospect of two manufacturers from the Volkswagen Audi Group (VAG) being linked with the game, and whereas Audi all the time meant to enter as a fully-fledged staff, it was unclear exactly what position was meant for stablemate Porsche.
Then, in March final yr, Volkswagen CEO, Herbert Diess successfully dominated out any hope of Porsche returning to F1, actually any time quickly. His feedback got here within the wake of hypothesis linking the legendary Stuttgart marque with Crimson Bull, nonetheless amidst concern that the German producer would need to change the tradition on the Austrian staff talks broke down and the world champions finally partnered with Ford.
With the clock ticking down Diess admitted: “You want 5 or ten years to be among the many entrance runners. In different phrases, you may solely get onboard when you have a significant rule change. Meaning you may determine now to do Method 1, or then in all probability not once more for 10 years.”
Beforehand, Porsche Motorsports VP, Fritz Enzinger had admitted that the corporate can be extra if F1 dedicated to using e-fuels, which type a part of Porsche’s carbon-neutral dedication. It was additionally revealed that McLaren had held talks with each Audi and Porsche however was involved at the calls for of the producers phrases over naming rights.
Now, Porsche motorsport boss Thomas Laudenbach has clarified the corporate’s place, stating that F1 is just “not on the desk” for the German producer.
“It’s off the desk,” he mentioned. “Proper now, F1 will not be a activity for us and we’re not spending any power on that. We’re solely centered on what we do proper now, and in case you have a look at it, we have now many various actions.
“We’re well-occupied and intensely proud of what we do,” he added. “We’re engaged in buyer racing from observe days, GT4, one-make sequence as much as skilled GT racing. On prime of that we’re racing within the two most essential endurance racing sequence with our associate Penske.
“The third half, since electrification of our model is essential, is our engagement in Method E, which is the one full-electric sequence on a excessive stage. I feel we’re rather well served.”
Porsche first entered the game in 1961 with an F2 automotive, returning a yr later with the aim constructed 804, which, within the arms of Dan Gurney, gave the corporate its sole F1 win as a constructor.
Within the early 80s, the German big returned to the game, this time as engine associate to McLaren, the TAG-badged models taking the Woking staff to successive constructors’ titles in 1984 and 1985, and driver titles for Niki Lauda (1984) and Alain Prost (1985 and 1986).
Nevertheless, much like the nightmare that beset Honda’s preliminary return to F1 with McLaren in 2015, Porsche’s return to F1 in 1991 was a catastrophe, the Footwork Arrows commonly failing to qualify for races and late that very same season the staff switched to Cosworth and Porsche left F1 seemingly by no means to return.
Within the years since there was a lot discuss of a return however in early 2015 Porsche’s head of improvement, Wolfgang Hatz dominated out a return, claiming that Le Mans was extra engaging.
Simply over two years later there seemed to be a change of coronary heart, when it was revealed that Porsche, together with Cosworth and Aston Martin, had attended a gathering of the Energy Unit Working Group, and was simply weeks away from making a call on whether or not to return to F1.
Two months later, having introduced the termination of its LMP1 programme, Porsche confirmed its foray into Method E, whereas deputy chairman, Lutz Meschke met with F1 bosses at Monza because the German producer continued to mull a potential return.
