Porsche was ready to wed itself to Red Bull for 10 years by partnering the runaway 2022 F1 championship leader’s engine programme and buying a 50% share of its race team. The union was mooted to be announced at the Austrian Grand Prix in early July before the FIA delayed the final wording of the 2026 power unit regulations. Soon came Moroccan legal documents that stated a 4 August date for the deal to be formally announced, only the day came and went.
Prior to the August summer break, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner began to press home how important it was for any new stakeholder to fit the outfit’s “philosophy and DNA” and declared a process of evaluation still awaited. Then at Spa, Audi unexpectedly leapfrogged its sister Volkswagen Group manufacturer to announcing its 2026 F1 participation (initially revealing its plans to build an engine only, with news of its investment in the Sauber operation to follow later this year).
