Volkswagen’s Audi and Britain’s McLaren are in early talks about a deal that would take the German carmaker back into Formula 1 racing, according to several people familiar with the situation.
VW is exploring using the racing arm of the UK supercar group as a way of bringing its premium brand into the sport, as part of a wider effort to re-enter F1.
Discussions are at a very early stage, with few firm details and no due diligence expected until early next year, said two people familiar with the talks.
VW is considering having two branded F1 teams, run by its Porsche and Audi arms respectively, which might pool some of their technologies, one person said.
This arrangement could also involve VW selling its technology to other teams in order to bring down investment costs, in the same way that Mercedes-Benz supplies engines for Williams.
But the group’s re-entry into F1 hinges on whether the sport’s governing body, the FIA, pushes through rule changes that mandate cars must be half electric, and able to run on sustainable fuels from the middle of the decade, two people familiar with the matter said.
While Audi’s motorsport arm has focused on Le Mans, the electric Formula E series, and rally racing, fellow VW brands Porsche and Lamborghini have some history of involvement in F1.
Porsche last competed in F1 during the 1960s, while Lamborghini withdrew from the sport before being acquired by VW in the late 1990s.
The German group’s erstwhile leader Ferdinand Piëch famously had a bitter relationship with F1’s Bernie Ecclestone, which stood in the way of VW’s return to the sport.
But an agreement for Audi to take control of McLaren’s racing unit, if that is what is agreed, is not a straightforward deal.
McLaren Group, which is controlled by Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund, predominantly makes supercars that compete with VW’s Lamborghini brand and Ferrari.
Last year, as part of a deal to help ease the company’s finances in the middle of the pandemic, the F1 team was spun out of the overall company into a separate entity that is controlled by McLaren Group.
Last December McLaren’s racing division was valued at £560m in a transaction with US-based investment group MSP Sports Capital, which took an initial 15 per cent stake that it intends to increase to 33 per cent by the end of next year.
McLaren Group said: “McLaren’s technology strategy has always involved ongoing discussions and collaboration with relevant partners and suppliers, including other carmakers.”
McLaren Group said an earlier report that Audi had agreed a deal to buy the company was “wholly inaccurate”, adding: “There has been no change in the ownership structure of the McLaren Group.”
McLaren has deep ties with BMW, which supplies the plug-in hybrid technology for its new Artura supercar, and the pair invest together in some battery research.
In a statement on Monday, Audi, which is run by Markus Duesmann, who once worked for BMW and Mercedes’ F1 teams, said: “We are constantly looking at various co-operation ideas as part of our strategic considerations,” but declined to comment on an approach to McLaren.
Porsche is said to be looking at a partnership with Red Bull, which is parting ways with engine provider Honda at the end of this season.
In March, Porsche chief executive Oliver Blume confirmed the VW Group was “looking at whether entry into Formula 1 would be ‘attractive for us’.” But he added that “no decision has been made yet”.
Additional reporting by Samuel Agini in London
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November 16, 2021 at 01:39AM
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