One of the remaining stumbling blocks towards the entry of Volkswagen Group brands in F1 are financial concessions that the German giant's Audi and Porsche brands have demanded. What are these financial concessions? Well, with the new F1 budget cap in place, Audi, Porsche, and Red Bull which will also start as new engine manufacturers in 2022 want more dyno time and operational concessions in terms of budgets to develop their engines arguing that they will be new to the sport. Already Mercedes and Toto Wolff are against the idea, but now the big kahuna of F1, Ferrari has joined Mercedes in support voicing its opinion against the Volkswagen Group demand.
Already Ferrari, Renault, and Mercedes have agreed to the removal of the complicated MGU-H from the power unit formula for 2026 which the three manufacturers have been developing since 2010. They have also agreed to have a fully sustainable fuel and increased the electrical element in the hybrid system. Fundamentally, this means all power unit manufacturers are starting from the start.
"On other resources like dyno hours or OpEx, I'm not too sure [about concessions]. If you are a newcomer, you've got an advantage on the fact that you are only focused on the new development, while we as current manufacturers need to split our effort into the current running operations and what will be the new one," said Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto.
The Ferrari team boss doesn't want more concessions for the VW group
Photo Credit: AFP
"I think that removing the MGU-H, which has been agreed, implies that it's a brand new project for everybody. So it's starting from scratch for everybody, and I don't feel that they've got a disadvantage. I think they've got skills on renewable fuel. They've got skills on electrical. I'm not too sure they are lacking the competencies to challenge the current manufacturers," he said, underlying the concessions that have already been made.
Porsche's new VP of motorsport Thomas Laudenbach recently hinted that there were positive signs for the entry of the Volkswagen Group in F1, but the decision has to be made quickly. Audi has also approached McLaren for a potential sale of its iconic F1 team which has been rejected. It is clear concessions are being made, but Volkswagen expects to be competitive immediately from the get-go as poor performance in F1 will tarnish the image of its premiere sports car brands.
But even McLaren's team principal Andreas Seidl who ran Porsche's Le Mans program is not in favour of concessions.
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"My approach was always that even as a newcomer, for example when we entered Le Mans, I don't want any concessions. Because I want to compete with competitors on a level-playing field. I guess you have to accept when you are coming into a sport or other sports that it might also take time to build up this competitiveness," he said.
"At the same time, I have no doubt with the timeline also that is in place, when we see regulations come into place, whoever would enter F1, there's enough time and I guess also enough knowledge around and knowhow, these new manufacturers that they can be in a reasonably competitive position from the first year onwards," he added.
