VW chief executive Herbert Diess has revealed that the company will be entering both Audi and Porsche in to Formula 1, in a move that is hoping to bring the company a better return on investment than it will cost.
There have been rumours for years that the brands were considering entries to the FIA Formula 1 World Championship, but this is the first official word that confirms the plans.
Speaking at an event at the Wolfsburg, Diess said that there is a strong case for the brands to be involved in the sport rather than not being involved, “You just run out of arguments,” he said.
Diess said that Porsche’s preparations for entering Formula 1 were a little more concrete than Audi’s, with Porsche entering into a long-term partnership with Red Bull Racing “in several years’ time.”
For Audi there has been speculation that they were ready to offer around €500 million ($556.3m) for McLaren, taking control of not only their sports car brand, but also their Formula 1 team.
While this is good news for Formula 1, it will have impacts elsewhere in the two brands’ motorsport programmes. Audi have already fallen victim to this after pulling the plug on their LMDh entry in to FIA WEC and the 24 hours of Le Mans. While Porsche are continuing with their entry, it could be a short lived project should the brand need to divert funds to its Formula 1 efforts.
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