“Participation in the team was agreed with a handshake,” Porsche’s CEO reveals how Red Bull deal collapsed ‘at the last moment’
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Earlier in the year, Porsche had been in discussions with Red Bull pursuing, at the very least, an engine partnership. But the talks fell through, as Porsche was seeking an equal partnership. The current constructor’s champions weren’t too keen on giving so much power up, especially as they felt they were in a fairly strong position.
While Porsche’s sister team and fellow Volkswagen Group subsidiary, Audi, will be entering F1 in 2026 with Sauber becoming their works team, there is no public deal in sight for Porsche right now, even if the interest is still there. At the Porsche ‘Night of Champions’, CEO Oliver Blume revealed just how close the deal was to completion.
As mentioned above, Porsche wanted to be an equal partner. The talks went as far as ‘participation being agreed’, but collapsed at the final hurdle. Blume said as per GPFans: “The talks [with Red Bull] went very well, participation in the team was agreed with a handshake, but was not completed at the last moment. We wanted to be an equal partner.”
Porsche does not feel cheated by Red Bull; after all, everyone has their own interests to consider: “Everyone has to decide for themselves whether they want to sell shares. That’s okay with us. We behaved fairly.” As for a future entry, Blume said: “We’ll see what happens in the future and what will be attractive. We have a huge [motorsport] programme ahead of us that we’re looking forward to.”
Also Read: Porsche looking to make an entry into F1 after failing to partner with Red Bull
Christian Horner’s take on the ‘failed’ deal with Porsche
While Porsche say that the deal fell at the last moment, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has a different ‘opinion’. Back in September, Horner had made it clear that the ‘deal’ between Red Bull and the German manufacturer never got farther than the discussion stage, adding that he thought Porsche were ‘getting ahead of themselves’.
As per Racer, Horner said: “I think big organizations need significant planning, and I think were slightly getting a bit ahead of themselves, but there was never a binding commitment signed between the parties. I think big organizations need significant planning, and I think were slightly getting a bit ahead of themselves, but there was never a binding commitment signed between the parties.”
While he did not delve into detail, Horner suggested that Red Bull wanted to maintain their independence; and that the Porsche deal may have done the opposite. He said: “I think we’ve seen on so many occasions manufacturers have been less autonomous in their decision-making and that was a key aspect of protecting what we have and how we operate, which has proved to be reasonably successful.
Horner also suggested that the team did not that feel Porsche brought a lot to the table for Red Bull to consider an equal partnership: “I think, having done our due diligence, we felt that actually we were in good shape and with the recruitment we’ve made technically, we don’t feel at any disadvantage to our competitors.”
Porsche is one of the most storied names in racing and motorsport, and there are still teams in F1 that could be interesting to them. We shall find out whether that’s as a power unit manufacturer or as an equal partnership. 2026, with the new regulations, will be their best chance at entry for some time.
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Aniket Tripathi
(1002 Articles Published)