Williams and Porsche are not yet in talks

In Formula 1 they do not lose hope that Porsche can enter the championship by entering into an alliance with one of the existing teams. In the paddock, Williams has been mentioned as a possible option, but it doesn’t look like the Grove are willing to sacrifice their independence.

The popularity of the championship in many countries of the world is greater than ever. Last season the stages in Austria, Great Britain, Hungary, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, the US, Mexico and Brazil were sold out. In America there will be another race next year – the Grand Prix of Las Vegas.

And only in Germany, the great car power, there have been no Formula 1 races for three years in a row and the return of the national Grand Prix is ​​not expected in the short term. In addition, the championship was almost without German drivers: Sebastian Vettel ended his career, Mick Schumacher did not renew his contract and it was only confirmed at the last minute that Nico Hulkenberg would drive for Haas F1 in 2023.

But Mercedes is still one of the top three teams in the championship, even if it didn’t do very well last season, and of course many have high hopes for Audi’s decision to enter Formula 1 in 2026 and create a factory team based on Sauber. .

But as far as is known, Formula 1 and the FIA ​​deliberately leave the door open for Porsche. According to the German edition of Auto Motor und Sport, the management of the Stuttgart company continues to study possible options, but there are not so many. And more or less realistic in general – Williams.

At the same time, in circles close to the Grove team, they say that there were no contacts with Porsche, and there are none. Perhaps this is partly because the owners of Williams, the American investment fund Dorilton Capital, have no plans yet to sell the team. Or they prefer to play for a raise and wait for a really attractive price to be offered.

But 2026 is just around the corner, and if Audi has its own motor division specializing in racing engines, and work has already begun on the creation of a hybrid power plant for the future Formula 1 team, then Porsche has nothing to brag about.

The company does not have the necessary infrastructure, which is why Stuttgart was interested in acquiring a 50% stake in Red Bull Racing, as the modern Red Bull Powertrains company is already based in Milton Keynes, UK. If we now create something like this from scratch, we will not have time to start the championship in 2026 – at best we can only talk about 2027.

The author of the text in Auto Motor und Sport believes that in theory it would be possible to agree on the acquisition of future Audi power plants, but in practice Porsche would not allow pride to choose this path. Despite the fact that both brands are part of the Volkswagen Group. However, it is also impossible to argue that negotiations do not take place within the company, involving only individual representatives of top management.

However, it should not be surprising if, despite a number of unresolved, albeit fundamentally important issues, Porsche nevertheless decides to apply to enter the championship, although it will only be a formal maneuver at this stage. In any case, we have to admit that time is working against Porsche now.