Proposals that the Volkswagen Group will enter the F1 arena have been rife for more than a decade, but the credibility and frequency of these reports has been in full swing in recent months.
Audi had gotten the tip to take over the McLaren F1-Team, whereby one publication went so far that it was a matter of a decided deal. At the time, McLaren denied that its ownership structure had changed, but added, perhaps more meaningfully, that the company was always involved in discussions with “relevant partners and suppliers, including other automakers”.
A Car Magazine report now claims that the deal is all but closed. In addition to Audi’s entry into Formula 1 through a McLaren buyout, Porsche is reportedly preparing an agreement to work with Red Bull’s F1 team once Honda’s advice ends. The article suggests that one scenario is that the two teams Audi / McLaren and Porsche / Red Bull then join forces to battle Ferrari and Mercedes. Other teams in the race as “fallback” options are an Audi and Williams and a Porsche and Alpha Tauri or Haas Team-Up.
Both Audi and Porsche have previously expressed their interest in Formula 1 on record. The attractiveness for the German brands is boosted by the Formula 1 trend towards sustainable fuels, while the simplification of the aggregates will be another important aspect.
Earlier reports had indicated that the road car division would go the Bavarian route and the British company would effectively split between VW and BMW, much like Bentley and Rolls Royce. However, the latest Car Magazine report suggests that talks turned cold despite a meeting with major shareholders of McLaren, the Bahrain-based Mumtalakat Holding Company. BMW had also denied a report that it could buy the British sports car manufacturer.
Mumtalakat, on the other hand, should definitely get rid of the deficit carmaker. Despite a positive start to 2021, with the company doubling its sales in the first half of the year, McLaren is in a difficult financial position. Revenue is down 64 percent, and efforts to keep the company afloat included 830 layoffs, the sale and lease back of headquarters, and the issuance of £ 550 million ($ 747 million) of new stock .
If Audi took over the entire group, which includes both the road car and Formula 1 divisions valued at 1 billion with potential synergies.
