Why the future engine regulations leave the door open for Porsche

Summer holidays do not seem to exist on the side of the International Automobile Federation (FIA). This Tuesday, August 16, the body formalized the introduction of a new regulations concerning Formula 1 engines on the horizon 2026.

This technical file mainly revolves around the show with 6 liter V1.6 coupled to an MGU-K three times more powerful, for an overall power beyond 1 horsepower. New generation fuels will be used, with synthetic products that will no longer extract any fossil materials.

Incredible power, with an eye on the future 👀

All the details about the latest power unit changes that will be introduced from the 2026 season 👇📺#F1 https://t.co/HFrUFUsRl2

— Formula 1 (@F1) August 16

La consommation globale sera réduite à seulement 70 kg par Grand prix, contre 100 kg depuis 2014 (année de l’introduction du moteur V6 Turbo hybride) et 160 kg en 2013. Mais tout cela n’est pas le cœur de l’argument pouvant provoquer l’adhésion de Porsche pour un (très) probable retour en catégorie-reine.

Indeed, the FIA ​​rules that this regulation will allow “reduce costs for competitors while retaining the cutting-edge technological showcase that is at the heart of Formula 1”. In short, it’s both butter and butter! This is also enough to make the sport more attractive than it currently is. Indeed, since 2014, only one engine manufacturer has joined the dance: Honda, which, a year late, suffered bad years of scarcity with McLaren before finding a second wind in the company of Red Bull et Alpha Tauri since 2018.

ALSO READ > Porsche plans to buy Red Bull for 50%

If Porsche must participate in Formula 1, and this is a more than likely scenario as we have been telling you since spring 2022, it will be done with Red Bull. However, the Anglo-Austrian team has precisely renewed its partnership with Honda… until the end of 2025. This makes it possible to maintain the stability necessary to conquer a potential Manufacturers' title and the defense of the number 1 status of its favorite driver, Max Verstappen.

The switch to a new engine manufacturer in 2026, the year of the new power units, would constitute ideal timing for Red Bull. The energy drink would thus have several years of preparations to best negotiate this technical turning point, and could strike hard from the outset. This is exactly the plan that had been created Mercedes in the early 2010s. Their V6 engine, developed in-house, had crushed the blocks Ferrari et Renault in 2014 thanks to an intensive study and creation process in previous years, where other suppliers had rested more on their laurels of naturally aspirated V8s.

When will the Porsche engine be in the hood of the Red Bull? © Antonin Vincent / DPPI

In the marketing and legal department, another clue suggests that the announcement of Porsche in Formula 1 is imminent.
Indeed, an application for registration of the registered trademark “F1NALLY” (a play on words between F1 and “finally” meaning “finally” the return of Porsche to F1) from Porsche, was accepted on August 14 by the German office patents and trademarks.

At the end of July, we learned that Porsche would not be content with being a simple engine supplier, but would in fact plan to buy half of the activities of Red Bull Technology Limited. An extremely curious fact in an environment where communication is always fully mastered, we discovered this neither by the red bull brand itself, nor by Porsche, but by… the Competition Council of Morocco.

In order to ensure that the association of the two giants did not contravene any law or principle, the two structures had to jointly file applications in several countries, including some outside the European Union. And it turns out that Moroccan legislation provides that the Competition Council must publish validated requests, betraying in some way the hitherto well-kept secret of Porsche's future active participation in the team's capital.

It is precisely in this document that we learn that the Stuttgart firm informed the competition control body that it was about to enter into a contract with Red Bull Technology Limited for a period of ten years, with a 50% participation in the activities of the Austrian company, as, among other things, an engine manufacturer. We also learn, in the said document, that the partnership will also concern the F1 team

What about AlphaTauri?

Red Bull's sister team led by Franz Tost and whose Pierre Gasly is the flagship driver, it would also be an integral part of the deal with also a Porsche engine. In any case, it would be a very logical choice given the internal synergies and historical links between the two structures.

Audi in the ranks

The Volkswagen group is also considering joining the Formula 1 grid as a team in its own right with its Audi brand, seeking to buy a team already involved, while the Sauber name has come back insistently in recent weeks. In its June 20 edition, Blick devoted an article to the possible takeover of the Sauber team by Audi, based on the words of a team boss who wished to remain anonymous and asserted: “I don’t understand why Sauber and Audi continue to hide their collaboration. Audi has already secured 25% of the shares for a long time. And another 50% should be added. These are really very large sums! »

ALSO READ > Audi continues negotiations in the paddock

Finally, if Porsche has not yet revealed anything about its intentions, it is due to the delay taken by the World Automobile Council to definitively ratify the 2026 engine regulations. This was a sine qua none condition. for the Volkswagen group to confirm its arrival in F1. It's now a done deal, so when will the holidays end for Porsche?