Four F1 teams still linked with Porsche

Wed, 26 October 2022, 07:00

Oct.26 (GMM) Four teams are in the running to team up in Formula 1 with Porsche, according to reports.

Jack Plooij, a well-known Dutch F1 broadcaster, said on Ziggo Sport that the Volkswagen-owned German sports carmaker is in talks with Williams.

Porsche had intended to enter the sport from 2026 with Red Bull, but those talks collapsed because the carmaker wanted 50 percent control.

It was thought that Porsche had subsequently lost interest in F1, but FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem said last week that talks are still taking place.

Plooij thinks a 50 percent buyout deal with Williams is “almost done”, while Auto Motor und Sport believes that Red Bull-owned Alpha Tauri may still be in the running.

And correspondent Andreas Haupt also mentioned Haas as a potential candidate, despite the American team’s close existing ties to Ferrari.

Finally, Michael Andretti’s potential F1 team may be an ideal Porsche partner – with his famous father Mario indicating that plans are still being pushed forward even though the sport seems lukewarm about an eleventh entry.

“Michael is moving forward as if he had received authorisation to put a team on the grid,” Mario Andretti said in Austin, according to France’s Auto Hebdo.

“A lot of people don’t hear much about it, but we’re working every day to try to get an official deal and moving forward as if we already have it.

“Michael and his partners decided to take this risk. It shows how badly we want it to happen.”

It is believed that Porsche’s current F1 talks are about a period after 2026, as there is no longer time to prepare for the very start of the new engine rules.

Audi, another VW-owned German carmaker, has already announced that it is entering Formula 1 for 2026.

An announcement has been scheduled for Wednesday in which Sauber may be unveiled as Audi’s 2026 team partner, involving a rumoured 75 percent buyout and full rebranding.

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