“I think it’s great that they’re talking about getting into Formula 1,” Horner, who is also the CEO of Red Bull Racing, said in an interview with Bloomberg TV. “These are famous brands – Porsche in particular is creative. It makes sense to have conversations with them after they have announced their intention to get into the sport.”
Horner anticipates that newcomers won’t be able to enter until 2026, so taking on the current racing team would be the only way to enter a new brand before that time. Volkswagen said last month that its sports car subsidiary Porsche was close to participating. Separate efforts by sister brand Audi are less advanced.
VW’s board of directors supports its luxury brands’ plans to enter competition in 2026. By then, Formula 1 wants to switch to synthetic fuels. By the end of the decade, the racing series aims to become carbon neutral.
The technological change presents a unique opportunity to participate in the racing series previously dominated by Mercedes. Last year, with Max Verstappen, a driver from another racing team (Red Bull-Honda) won for the first time in eight years, but Mercedes is providing the engines for a whole host of teams in competition.
Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess said in May that entry would allow both brands with higher sales given the growing popularity of Formula 1 in the United States and China.
(Bloomberg)
“Internet nerd. Avid student. Zombie guru. Tv enthusiast. Coffee advocate. Social media expert. Music geek. Professional food maven. Thinker. Troublemaker.”
More Stories
Tests against Germany and Canada in preparation for the World Cup
Boris Becker's insolvency proceedings in Great Britain have ended
Marco Odermatt is happy to have Marcel Hirscher back