Thursday saw the latest meeting of the FOTA Technical Working Group ahead of a drastic slate of rule changes for 2013.The planned introduction of 1.6 litre turbo engines is designed to make the sport more affordable, whilst attracting new manufacturers. The Volkswagen Group has long been rumoured to be interested in joining the Formula One circus with either it’s Porsche or Audi brand, and the new engine formula will allow a greater chance of parity with existing engine suppliers, who have been serving under an engine development freeze for many years.
Porsche chairman Mattias Mueller said of future involvement:
“With LMP1, there are two classes and two brands – Audi and Porsche. We do not like to both go into LMP1 [against each other]; that is not so funny.
“So therefore we have to discuss whether it makes better sense for one of the [two] brands to go into LMP1, and the other brand into F1. So we will have a round-table to discuss the pros and cons.”
FOTA is also hoping to see it’s share of the Formula One revenues increase from 50% to 75% under a new Concorde Agreement [the governing document of Formula One] for 2013. These figures will make it more appealing for manufacturers, like Porsche, to join Formula One – possibly by taking over troubled teams such as Scuderia Toro Rosso, BMW-Sauber, or Hispania Racing Team. Sir Frank Williams and Patrick Head may also be willing to offer a stake in their team to a manufacturer, like they did with BMW in the early 2000s.
The Pitstraight 