VW Enters.................

[Facts Only]

Would be best if Audi runs it from Ingolstadt

There's a reason why 'German' Mercedes, 'Austrian' Red Bull and most other teams are all based in roughly the same bit of England.

They bought an existing outfit did not start one. TMG had no problem finding 800 people to work at koln, Ferrari had no problem during the Schumacher era. Porsche and Audi LMP teams work fine in Germany.

TMG had no problem getting 800 people who couldn't win a single race despite their massive budget and last time their recruiter called me were offering 500+Euro per day to get literally any English engineers over tto try to sort out the mess.

Ferrai had no problem recruiting Ross Brawn (from England) and a large team of English engineers with him, since those days they have won very little and have been offering 60+ euro per hour to a number of colleagues over the last year to try to get them over.

The big 3 LMP teams are in Germany so that's a comparison that actually supports the point.

This is not some sort of national pride it's just a simple numbers game, if you need 500 people to run an F1 team you set it up where 5000 experienced F1 staff already live. If you were starting an LMP team you would set it up in Germany where all the experienced LMP staff already are. just like if you set up a NASCAR teams you would go to Charlotte where the staff you need already live.

[GitanesBlondes]

Meh, Audi already said they have no use for the current F1 formula.

This is more rumor stuff that has no validity to it.

As I have already stated in another topic, the only "news" F1 has anymore is rumors and other trivial crap since there's nothing in the way of meaningful technical innovation to be seen.

I'm always amazed people buy into the periodic Audi/F1 rumor the way they do every single time it comes up as they have stated F1 is not relevant for what they do.

[ScottB]

They bought an existing outfit did not start one. TMG had no problem finding 800 people to work at koln, Ferrari had no problem during the Schumacher era. Porsche and Audi LMP teams work fine in Germany.

TMG had no problem getting 800 people who couldn't win a single race despite their massive budget and last time their recruiter called me were offering 500+Euro per day to get literally any English engineers over tto try to sort out the mess.

Ferrai had no problem recruiting Ross Brawn (from England) and a large team of English engineers with him, since those days they have won very little and have been offering 60+ euro per hour to a number of colleagues over the last year to try to get them over.

The big 3 LMP teams are in Germany so that's a comparison that actually supports the point.

This is not some sort of national pride it's just a simple numbers game, if you need 500 people to run an F1 team you set it up where 5000 experienced F1 staff already live. If you were starting an LMP team you would set it up in Germany where all the experienced LMP staff already are. just like if you set up a NASCAR teams you would go to Charlotte where the staff you need already live.

Exactly the point I wanted to make, but better put!

[Cold Fussion]

The seasonal Audi/VW in F1 returns yet again. In any case, why would Audi favour buying into an existing team when they already have a huge and successful Le Mans operation to draw from?

[FW17]

From a strictly business case pov, this makes no sense. None. Zero. Unless I'm wrong, of course.....

They obviously cannot allow for Mercedes the show of dominance, It is bad for business.

This is not some sort of national pride it's just a simple numbers game,

Then why were the brits so upset when the Austrian anthem was played when RB won?

[SidSidney]

As much as it seems like noise, the internal politics of Porsche and Audi do make this a strong possibility.

Porsche returned to Le Mans just in time to defend their long term "Most Wins at Le Mans" record, which Audi was starting to encroach upon; it is something like 16 wins for Porsche now and about 13 for Audi.

If you factor in how long it takes to bring a serious works race car to winning condition, typically 3-4 years, unless you get lucky out of the box, they had to start a programme last year and be in the 2014 race in some way in order to avoid that Audi had even the chance to hit 16 before Porsche could respond.

If you then think about the internal decision to allow Porsche to race at all, the writing was quite possibly on the wall for Audi Le Mans cars as soon as Porsche got the green light. Audi could only really do it as long as Porsche did not choose to do so.

Add to this several factors:

- Everybody thinks that VW AG owns Porsche, which it does operationally. But the Porsche FAMILY owns VW AG... Porsche SE (The Porsche and Pietsch family holding company) owns 50.76% control of Volkswagen AG, which then owns the Audi and Porsche operational companies and brands. That is pretty easy shareholder math when it comes to deciding which reputation/legacy will be continued, given nobody is around to represent August Horch and Auto Union.

- Porsche is probably not going to do F1 again. They had some good results with McLaren in the 80's, but a debacle with Arrows in the 90's. Which means that road is open for Audi, and actually F1 makes more sense for Audi than Porsche as it gives it a global advertising platform for their broad base of cars. Same for VW, especially if F1 is now going to be an energy efficient category.

- Joest is the traditional LM24 partner of Porsche; it was partnering with Audi because Porsche was not racing Le Mans. Given the choice of an internal team and Joest, it's a no brainer that they will merge the race teams under Joest control.

I would estimate the probability of Audi leaving Le Mans is 80%+, entering F1 a bit lower, 60% - depends on whether they go with Audi or VW branding, I would edge towards Audi as it has the Le Mans track record - but still quite likely.

[Manoah2u]

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/2016- ... -the-works

2016 Audi F1 program with Alonso rumored to be in the works


Insiders at Audi have stated that the marque may ditch endurance racing and join the ranks of Formula One.

According to Auto Express, the Formula One Silly Season just got a lot more interesting. Audi, which has enjoyed a stranglehold on Le Mans for nearly 15 years, may be abandoning their successful endurance racing and touring car programs in favor of Formula One.

That is the claim of unnamed insiders at Audi and its parent company, the Volkswagen Group. There has been a lot of pressure from Volkswagen for Audi to pull out of the WEC, stepping aside for their cousins at Porsche. They will unite their WEC and DTM budgets, and they may also have support from Red Bull to assist them in their new venture, according to the report.

Alonso and Domenicali's involvement

It is believed that they have been in talks with two-time Formula One World Champion Fernando Alonso. That news jells well with everything we've been hearing thus far. The McLaren deal is at a stand-still because Alonso is apparently keen on a one-year contract. We then learned that he may be joining Audi at Le Mans in 2015 before making his F1 return with an unspecified team come 2016.

Also, in the midst of an potential racing lull, the Spaniard seems unusually confident.

Let us not forget that Audi recently hired former Ferrari Formula One team principal Stefano Domenicali, who has no experience in Le Mans-level sports car racing.

Audi in Formula One would also reignite a 75-year-old rivalry with fellow German automobile giant Mercedes, which is currently doing in Formula One what Audi has been doing at Le Mans for some time now ... Dominating.

Could we be in for a clash of the titans in 2016? Audi joining F1 has been anticipated almost as much as the incessant pleas that Ferrari would develop a new LMP1 program.

Hmmm.....this sounds interesting. I can see this happen, to be honest.

[Jonnycraig]

It´s these got damn engine freeze rules, people just won´t join

They might in 2016 when the freeze will be lifted though...

[SectorOne]

Its already lifted, only that they can introduce them next year

[Juzh]

Its already lifted, only that they can introduce them next year

Which is wrong.

[SectorOne]

Its already lifted, only that they can introduce them next year

Which is wrong.

Only because one simply did a better job then everyone else. Had they been completely equal on performance everything would be quiet, Mattiacci would be praising the rules saying they work brilliantly.

And so would you.

[Sombrero]

Audi didn't even need Alonso if it enters F-1... =D>

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axIEIYCk3FU[/youtube]

[Moxie]

On a marketing level it makes some sense, if one subscribes to the "Win on Sunday and sell cars on Monday" philosophy. Porsche and LeMans have gone hand in hand for decades, even during the absence of the brand from the highest level of the series. The dominance of Audi over the last decade has lifted that brands prominence to a level that it is in danger of supplanting Porsche in the minds of the automobile buying public. As both brands are owned by the same corporation, it makes no sense at this point to allow both brands to compete against each other. It makes a lot of sense that the VW outfit house to run the Porsche brand at LeMans, where it already has a great history to build upon. Meanwhile, now that Audi is a major player in the racing world, exposing that brand to the larger F1 viewing audience may be a gamble worth taking.

[wesley123]

https://twitter.com/Audi__Sport/status/ ... 8727565312 Aaaaand, rumors are over

[Facts Only]

From a strictly business case pov, this makes no sense. None. Zero. Unless I'm wrong, of course.....

They obviously cannot allow for Mercedes the show of dominance, It is bad for business.

This is not some sort of national pride it's just a simple numbers game,

Then why were the brits so upset when the Austrian anthem was played when RB won?

I have no idea what you are talking about, what 'Brits' were upset and when? Or how it relates to my point about setting up a new team where the existing talent is already based.