Porsche and Red Bull scrap Formula 1 partnership talks

Porsche has abandoned talks to partner with the Red Bull Formula 1 team, forcing the sports car brand to search for new routes into the global racing series.

The collapse of talks with Red Bull, which is dominating F1 this season, is a blow to the Volkswagen brand ahead of its planned initial public offering this year.

Red Bull and Porsche failed to agree on the structure of the proposed partnership, according to people briefed on the talks. One person with knowledge of the discussions said Porsche had wanted to buy 50 per cent of the race team and 50 per cent of Powertrains, Red Bull’s new power unit manufacturer.

However, Red Bull’s investors were unwilling to sell a stake in the race team. A person close to Red Bull said it was a shareholder decision — “they felt it was not the best investment for the F1 team at this stage.”

Porsche said the racing series remained “an attractive environment” that it would continue to monitor.

“The premise was always that a partnership would be based on an equal footing, which would include not only an engine partnership but also the team,” said Porsche. “This could not be achieved.”

There are still avenues for Porsche to enter the sport, with interest from other teams but the failure to agree a deal with Red Bull highlights the difficulty of joining a competition with only 10 teams.

Porsche and the other VW-owned carmaker Audi are looking to join the sport in 2026, when teams will start to race with new engines.

New power unit regulations will introduce next-generation engines powered by a mixture of batteries and biofuels.

Audi has already confirmed it will join F1 as an engine provider that year but is yet to confirm its partner.

F1’s revival under Liberty Media, the group controlled by billionaire John Malone, is attracting younger fans and the attention of car manufacturers.

Since acquiring F1 in an $8bn deal in 2017, the US group has implemented a budget cap to reduce costs for teams, negotiated a more even split of revenues and tried to widen the appeal of the sport by embracing social media. The popularity of Drive to Survive, a behind-the-scenes documentary series on Netflix, has also increased interest, with attendances rising amid strong demand for tickets to race weekends.

Most F1 teams run on engines provided by Ferrari and Mercedes, though Renault’s Alpine runs on its own power. Red Bull has launched a Powertrains division to build its own engine to end its reliance on rival manufacturers. Red Bull uses engines provided by Honda, although the Japanese provider announced its departure from the sport in 2020.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has stressed the importance of the team’s independence.

Based in Milton Keynes, Red Bull is leading this season’s F1 standings, with reigning world champion Max Verstappen powering the team to the top of the constructor’s championship.