The 2026 F1 engine rules are now finalized according to the FIA president, who announced the news last week via Twitter.
It now remains to ratify these rules by a vote at the next World Council. This definitely opens the door to the arrival of Porsche and Audi in F1.
If Audi’s plans are still vague, those of Porsche are very clear and are an open secret. Official documents unveiled earlier this month show that a collaboration between Red Bull and Porsche is on the cards, with a 50% takeover of the team and the new engine department by the German manufacturer.
Like Christian Horner, Helmut Marko has always said that nothing had been signed and this is a priori still the case. It was a preliminary study for any possible agreement, the main point was to vote the rules on the future power unit. And it’s not yet.
« It’s very simple. The decision of the VW board is: if the technical regulations meet the criteria, then Porsche has the mandate to enter Formula 1, » he explains to Motorsport Total.
« It mainly affects cost caps, durability, carbon-neutral gasoline (during its life cycle, editor’s note), equal opportunity for a newcomer, ie more bench capacities tests, etc. In purely formal terms, however, these new regulations do not yet exist. »
« The criteria mentioned must be reflected in the regulations, otherwise it all makes no sense. Or it will be much more difficult to plan. »
The details will therefore remain to be settled in the months to come, but above all it was necessary to get Mercedes F1 and Ferrari to agree on the requirements of the VW group and vice versa. But not Renault?
« It’s the usual game in Formula 1. The top guys – in this case Mercedes and Ferrari, because Renault is more on the sidelines – try to make the most of it. »
« Then there’s a kind of compromise that everyone can live with, and that’s hours of discussion. But that’s part of Formula 1 politics. »
