All of the major exotic vehicle manufacturers have competed in F1 or, at the absolute least, provided engines for the sport throughout its history.
The F1 grid has formerly featured vehicles with the names Aston Martin, Maserati, Bugatti, Alfa Romeo, Porsche, Lamborghini, Lotus, Jaguar, and Mercedes Benz. You now have a real who’s who of the automotive industry, including the enduring Ferrari and contemporary automotive behemoths Honda, Renault, and Toyota.
Despite its long history and popularity, there are surprisingly few names from the real world of motorsport on the roster of teams competing in F1 today.
The only car brands you can actually buy are Ferrari, Mercedes, Renault, and, to a lesser extent, McLaren. The two Lotus teams who absurdly compete this year have no connection to the British sports car manufacturer of the same name (owned by Malaysia).
The concentration of ownership of these well-known names is one of the main issues. They used to be powerful, independent businesses, but today they are just branches on the conglomerate tree.
For instance, Fiat is the owner of Maserati, Alfa Romeo, Lancia, and Ferrari. Audi, Bugatti, Bentley, and Lamborghini are all under Porsche control at Volkswagen.
Where are Peugeot or BMW? Why are Japanese firms no longer in a position to compete? Why couldn’t one of the Porsche stable’s brands stand in for the group?
Audi has developed a solution. They have revealed their cards after years of tease teasers about an F1 effort.
Audi believes that F1 is unimportant. Audi’s director of racing, Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich, defends the harsh decision.
The road has no bearing on this. Audi has long participated in motorsports that our customers care about, like rallying and touring cars, which helped develop the quattro, FSI, and TFSI systems that are now included in our road cars.
This is the reason we rejected F1 in 1999. Instead, we made the decision to compete in the world’s biggest race. We chose Le Mans.
They are combative words. However, the argument has some merit given the number of passenger car manufacturers competing alongside Audi (11 in all) at Le Mans events.
That didn’t prevent Audi from planning an extravagant celebration in Singapore to coincide with the F1 race, though.
As brutal as Dr Ulrich’s assessment is, he gets the Ban Ki Moon award for diplomacy compared to the blunt assessment of F1 offered up by Porsche CEO Matthias Mueller who declared that it was “not interesting and “too expensive.”
Of course, the two erudite men omit to mention that F1 is an absurdly challenging sport to master.
Why risk it all to be an afterthought in a world that is so different from your own when you’re the big fish in Le Mans racing, as is the case with Audi, or when you have many series exclusively dedicated to your brand, as does Porsche?
You know you’re not in Kansas anymore when racing behemoths like Mercedes and Ferrari attend a class from an energy drink manufacturer.
That, though, is the appeal. F1 should be unpredictable and innovative; it shouldn’t only be about racing road cars.
That is not to claim that Formula One is a very inventive sport. The idea that F1 has significantly advanced the automotive industry is widespread, but it doesn’t hold up to thorough examination.
F1 is better at extending existing technologies than it is at inventing new ones, leaving aside traction control and monocoque construction. While improvements in this field certainly have an impact on the passenger market, they don’t often garner the same attention as high-profile innovations like airbags.
The Olympics wouldn’t exist if sport were exclusively about practical applications, though. It wouldn’t be fun to see Usain Bolt shatter world records; we’d rather to watch police officers take out criminals.
Although Audi would be a great addition, F1 is unique and different, and the sport will continue to exist without them. In addition, a number of well-known past participants are already lined up to participate in the 2014 engine upgrades, joining first-timers Volkswagen and General Motors.
F1 is still without a doubt the best series, even though the Le Mans 24-hour may be the world’s best auto race (although the people of Monaco may disagree).
In This Article...
Why aren’t BMW and Audi in Formula One?
Since the World Drivers’ Championship was established in 1950, BMW has been involved in Formula One in a variety of capacities. Before developing the BMW M12/13 inline-four turbocharged engine in the 1980s, the business competed in sporadic races in the 1950s and 1960s (typically under Formula Two rules). The team’s chassis were powered by BMW engines from 1982 to 1987 as a consequence of an agreement between BMW and Brabham. Nelson Piquet won the 1983 title while operating a Brabham BT52-BMW during this time. ATS, Arrows, Benetton, and Ligier teams were also given the M12/13 by BMW during this time, with varying degrees of success. Brabham briefly left the sport in 1988, and BMW stopped officially supporting the engines, which were still being used by the Arrows team under the Megatron moniker. The 1989 revision of the Formula One Technical Regulations outlawed turbocharged engines, making the M12/13 obsolete.
In the late 1990s, BMW made the decision to return to Formula One and entered into an exclusive agreement with the Williams team, which was in need of a new long-term engine supplier following the departure of Renault in 1997. A new V10 engine was produced as a result of the work and debuted in competition in the Williams FW22 in 2000. The collaboration advanced from the midfield to contending for race victories the next year, but the desired title remained elusive due to Michael Schumacher and Ferrari’s domination in the first half of the 2000s. BMW decided to sever ways with Williams in 2005 as their relationship had deteriorated, and instead decided to purchase the rival Sauber team outright.
The BMW Sauber project, which ran from 2006 to 2009, significantly raised the Swiss former privateer team’s competitiveness. A strong third place performance in the Constructors’ Championship in 2007 followed two podium places in the inaugural season (which became second when McLaren was disqualified). Robert Kubica won the team’s lone race in 2008, the Canadian Grand Prix, and briefly held the lead in the Drivers’ Championship, but the team decided to concentrate on 2009 car development and fell back in the standings at the end of the season. Due to the F1.09 chassis’ lack of competitiveness, the 2009 season was a significant letdown. BMW decided to leave the sport, returning the team to its founder, Peter Sauber, in addition to the global financial downturn and the company’s displeasure with the constraints of the current technical standards in developing technology relevant to road cars.
Will Audi ever compete in Formula One?
Porsche and Audi will both compete in Formula 1, according to Herbert Diess, CEO of parent company Volkswagen Group.
Diess announced that the group’s Porsche and Audi brands will both participate in the sport during an online “Dialogue with Diess” question-and-answer session. He said, “You just run out of reasons [not to join F1].
The decision to enter F1 divided the Volkswagen Group board of directors, according to Diess, who also disclosed that the board ultimately decided to approve the move since it will generate more money than it will cost.
Will Audi buy a Formula One team?
At a gathering on Monday, Herbert Diess announced that parent firm Volkswagen had approved the two German companies’ entry into the premier motorsports league. According to Reuters, Volkswagen Group CEO Herbet Diess announced at an event on Monday that both Audi and Porsche will soon enter Formula 1.
Was there ever an F1 squad for Audi?
The names Red Bull and Porsche have frequently been linked to an F1 partnership, possibly utilizing the team’s new Powertrains branch.
Additionally, it is known that Audi has been considering a collaboration with a number of teams, including McLaren, Williams, and Sauber.
Audi has never entered Formula One, while Porsche last participated in 1991 as an engine supplier for the Footwork race car.
Prior to that, Porsche had its greatest success in Formula One when supplying engines to McLaren in the 1980s. These engines were known as TAG/Porsche until 1987, and they helped McLaren win 24 races and two Constructors’ Championships in 1984 and 1985.
Why isn’t Lamborghini in Formula One?
Although the Italian automaker has produced some of the most iconic automobiles in history, Lamborghini hasn’t been the dominant force in Formula 1. Even more people have discovered the sport thanks to Netflix’s Drive to Survive, but some auto fans have noted Lamborghini’s absence from the grid.
Despite not taking part in the event in 2021 or 2022, the Italian automaker has previous experience. According to F1 Technical, Lamborghini raced a vehicle dubbed the Lambo 291 in the 1990s. Despite possessing a strong V12 engine, its brief career didn’t turn out as expected.
There isn’t an official Formula One team for Lamborghini. However, the Italian automaker did make a foray into the sport in the early 1990s. This was the time the automaker ordered engineers Mario Tolentino and Mauro Forghieri to create a new vehicle based on the automaker’s L3512 naturally aspirated V12. Like all F1 vehicles at the time, the Lambo 291 had a carbon-fiber chassis. The automobile was about 1124 pounds in weight. The only transmission used to provide V12 power to the rear wheels was a six-speed manual.
It’s interesting to note that Lamborghini didn’t want its name on the squad since the company didn’t want to damage its reputation if the team failed. The team’s name is Modena because of this. However, Lamborghini decided to call its vehicle the Lambo 291.
Despite enormous expectations, the Lamborghini F1 car wasn’t a huge success. The 1991 Formula 1 season was the sole time the Lambo 291 was active. The pre-qualifying sessions served as its initial test. To even be eligible for one of the 16 races that year, the car had to perform well in these qualifying sessions.
Sadly, the automobile only competed in races six times. The Lambo 291 finished sixth at the U.S. Grand Prix on its best day. Lamborghini didn’t want to invest in a struggling squad, despite the fact that the company had one respectable finish at the beginning of the season. Despite having great hopes in 1992, Modena never returned to Formula 1.
Even if it happens, Lamborghini rejoining Formula One is doubtful. Just to enter costs $200 million. The current teams each receive an equal share of the money. Budgeting would also be required for the creation of a whole new vehicle and powertrain. Because Lamborghini lacks the same racing heritage as Ferrari, it would be prohibitively pricey.
Why tinker with success when Lamborghini’s Urus SUV is breaking sales records? If anything, Porsche or Audi have a stronger chance of entering Formula 1 because Lamborghini is controlled by the Volkswagen group.
Why doesn’t Porsche compete in Formula One?
Ferdinand Porsche created Grand Prix cars for Mercedes and Auto Union in the 1920s and 1930s, but the Porsche AG never felt comfortable in single-seater competition.
Due to permissive rules and promising lap times, the Porsche 718 RSK, a two-seat sports car, was entered in Formula Two races in the late 1950s. First, the 718 was modified by shifting the seat to the middle of the vehicle, and then actual open wheelers were constructed. The 1500 cc automobiles were somewhat successful. In 1961, the ex-F2 vehicles were promoted to Formula One, but Porsche’s outmoded design was uncompetitive. Dan Gurney won the 1962 French Grand Prix in a newly created, sleek, flat-eight-powered Porsche 804, giving Porsche its lone victory as a constructor in a championship race. He replicated the feat a week later in a non-championship race on Stuttgart’s Solitude in front of Porsche’s home fans. Porsche left Formula One at the end of the season because to hefty costs,[citation needed] despite having only recently acquired the Reutter facility. F1 was too far removed from road cars for Volkswagen and German suppliers to be interested in making a commitment. Up until 1964, privateers still entered the archaic Porsche 718 in Formula One.
Porsche returned to Formula One in 1983 after a nearly two-decade absence, providing water-cooled V6 turbo engines badged as TAG units for the McLaren Team. Porsche had been tremendously successful with turbocharged cars in the 1970s. The Porsche-typical flat engine was not an option due to its excessive width from an aerodynamic standpoint. A 90 V6 turbo engine was created since turbo power was the way to go in Formula One at the time. John Barnard, principal designer of McLaren, set extremely strict specifications for the TAG engine’s development. He made sure that the engine’s physical architecture matched the style of the car he was proposing. The engine was funded by TAG, which also held the naming rights, even though the engines were marked “manufactured by Porsche.” Porsche initially resisted putting their name on the engines out of concern for negative publicity if they failed. However, the “Made by Porsche” labels started to appear after a few races in the 1984 season when it became clear that the engines were the ones to have. Three driver titles (1984, 1985, and 1986) and two constructor championships (1984 and 1985) were won by TAG-Porsche-powered vehicles. Between 1984 and 1987, the engines propelled McLaren to 25 victories, with 19 going to World Champion Alain Prost in 1985 and 1986 and six going to World Champion Niki Lauda in 1984.
The TAG-Porsche engines, despite their enormous success, were never the most potent in Formula One since they had the capacity to withstand higher turbo boost like the competitor BMW, Renault, Ferrari, and Honda engines. Lauda, Prost, Keke Rosberg, and Stefan Johansson, the McLaren drivers who frequently competed with the engine, frequently urged Porsche to create a unique qualifying engine like their rivals. Mansour Ojjeh, the owner of Porsche and TAG, refused to build qualifying engines because of the added expense, claiming that the race engines had previously been shown to produce similar power and better fuel economy than all save the Hondas. Despite having less power, McLaren still managed to win 7 pole positions (6 for Prost and 1 for Rosberg) and 21 starts on the front row.
Porsche made a second engine supply appearance in F1 in 1991, but this time the consequences were disastrous: According to several reports, including one from McLaren designer Alan Jenkins, the engine was actually two combined TAG V6 engines used by McLaren from 1983 to 1987 without the turbochargers)[8], the Footwork Arrows cars powered by this overweight Porsche 3512 double-V6 that weighed 400 pounds (180 kg) failed to score a single point and even failed to qualify for more than half the races that year. Porsche hasn’t competed in Formula One since Footwork replaced the Porsche engines with Cosworth DFRs. In addition to having insufficient horsepower, the 3512 reportedly had serious oil starvation issues that frequently resulted in engine failure.
Porsche Chairman Matthias Mueller hinted about a potential Porsche comeback to Formula 1 during the 2010 Paris Motor Show. Mueller said specifically that one of Porsche or Audi would race in Le Mans, while the other would go to Formula 1. Audi’s head of motorsport Wolfgang Ulrich had previously said that the two “do not fit” in Formula 1. [9]
But on May 2, 2022, Volkswagen Group CEO Herbert Diess made the announcement that Porsche would return to the sport along with VW brand Audi. This followed months of rumors.
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