As it's too early for the 2026 thread, thought I'd share the latest on the "will they, won't they?" VW saga here.
VW's CEO has very strongly hinted that both Porsche and Audi will enter Formula 1 in 2026. That season will see both new engine rules (simplified on the electric side, but with the electric that remains beefed up a lot, along with further moves towards renewable / greener fuels for the ICE) and revised chassis / aero rules. As such, it marks a logical point for the VW brands to enter as the advantages of teams / manufacturer's already in the sport will be reduced.
It's thought that Porsche will enter via a partnership with Red Bull Power Trains, leading to a likely Red Bull Porsche badged team from 2026 onwards. Audi, on the other hand, appears to favour going it alone - however it's uncertain at the moment what shape that might take. Rumours are that Audi has taken over an aborted F1 engine program that Porsche had started (and then abandoned in the wake of dieselgate) and will modernise that design. It is also widely believed that Audi have been talking to multiple teams (McLaren, Williams, Sauber [Alfa Romeo], and Aston Martin) about buying a stake (if not a controlling interest), but it appears that so far those talks haven't produced anything firm. It's possible they may go it alone with a full factory team if they can't convince an existing team to sell. Or they may settle for being an engine supplier only, assuming a team is willing to sign up.
Audi's possible entry as a full factory team may be playing a part in F1 dragging its feet over the possible Andretti entry. While there are theoretically 12 available grid slots for teams, with only 10 currently in use, it does appear that F1 is very wary about diluting the prize fund for the existing teams and will only ok a new entry if it is strongly believed to be able to add to the sport. They do not want to repeat the mistake the last time multiple new teams were added (with none of those teams ultimately surviving, and none of them ever troubling the midfield).
Andretti may find that his best (only?) way into F1 is to do a deal with Audi, and delay his entry to 2026. Andretti Audi has a nice ring to it... (and they could do a sponsor deal with the AA, who they might need to recover the cars if the engine proves to be Honda-levels of unreliable.
If Audi join as a factory team then I hope the 2026 regs include adding indicators that must be used to show when you are entering the pits so the Audi racing drivers can ignore them every bit as much as Audi driving school run mums do on the streets of Britain
) Arrogant team, arrogant engine supplier.
