21/08/2024
NEWS STORY
Porsche motorsport boss Thomas Laudenbach has said that the legendary German marque has no intention of entering F1.
It wasn't that long ago that F1 was salivating at the prospect of two brands from the Volkswagen Audi Group (VAG) being linked with the sport, and while Audi always intended to enter as a fully-fledged team, it was unclear precisely what role was intended for stablemate Porsche.
Then, in March last year, Volkswagen CEO, Herbert Diess effectively ruled out any hope of Porsche returning to F1, certainly any time soon. His comments came in the wake of speculation linking the legendary Stuttgart marque with Red Bull, however amidst concern that the German manufacturer would want to change the culture at the Austrian team talks broke down and the world champions ultimately partnered with Ford.
With the clock ticking down Diess admitted: "You need five or ten years to be among the front runners. In other words, you can only get onboard if you have a major rule change. That means you can decide now to do Formula 1, or then probably not again for 10 years."
Previously, Porsche Motorsports VP, Fritz Enzinger had admitted that the company would be more interested if F1 committed to the use of e-fuels, which form part of Porsche's carbon-neutral commitment. It was also revealed that McLaren had held talks with both Audi and Porsche but was concerned at the demands of the manufacturers terms over naming rights.
Now, Porsche motorsport boss Thomas Laudenbach has clarified the company's position, stating that F1 is simply "not on the table" for the German manufacturer.
"It is off the table," he said. "Right now, F1 is not a task for us and we are not spending any energy on that. We are only focused on what we do right now, and if you look at it, we have many different activities.
"We are well-occupied and extremely happy with what we do," he added. "We are engaged in customer racing from track days, GT4, one-make series up to professional GT racing. On top of that we are racing in the two most important endurance racing series with our partner Penske.
"The third part, since electrification of our brand is very important, is our engagement in Formula E, which is the only full-electric series on a high level. I think we are really well served."
Porsche first entered the sport in 1961 with an F2 car, returning a year later with the purpose built 804, which, in the hands of Dan Gurney, gave the company its sole F1 win as a constructor.
In the early 80s, the German giant returned to the sport, this time as engine partner to McLaren, the TAG-badged units taking the Woking team to successive constructors' titles in 1984 and 1985, and driver titles for Niki Lauda (1984) and Alain Prost (1985 and 1986).
However, similar to the nightmare that beset Honda's initial return to F1 with McLaren in 2015, Porsche's return to F1 in 1991 was a disaster, the Footwork Arrows regularly failing to qualify for races and late that same season the team switched to Cosworth and Porsche left F1 seemingly never to return.
In the years since there has been much talk of a return but in early 2015 Porsche's head of development, Wolfgang Hatz ruled out a return, claiming that Le Mans was more attractive.
Just over two years later there appeared to be a change of heart, when it was revealed that Porsche, along with Cosworth and Aston Martin, had attended a meeting of the Power Unit Working Group, and was just weeks away from making a decision on whether to return to F1.
Two months later, having announced the termination of its LMP1 programme, Porsche confirmed its foray into Formula E, while deputy chairman, Lutz Meschke met with F1 bosses at Monza as the German manufacturer continued to mull a possible return.