Wolff doubts Volkswagen will ditch motorsport involvement over emission scandal

Volkswagen has found itself at the centre of one of the road car industry's biggest controversies when it was discovered the German manufacturer used trick technology to cheat emission testing in the United States.

The discovery has already forced the resignation of its boss Martin Winterkorn and, as well as leading to a slump in share prices, it will likely cost the company billions of pounds.

VW had recently been linked with a move to F1 in the near future, potentially as early as 2018 with Red Bull, but that now appears to have faded away.

Red Bull boss Christian Horner said at the Japanese Grand Prix that he believed his outfit's hopes of luring VW to F1 had 'gone up in smoke'.

But despite the bad news, Wolff suspects that the rival car company is unlikely to abandon its widespread motorsport activity.

“The world doesn't stop turning and it doesn't stop turning for them either,” explained Wolff. “They have a daily business and part of that daily business is marketing, selling cars, and activating various properties. Motor racing is one of those areas.

“They do Le Mans with two brands, they do rallying with VW, and DTM with Audi. I don't think it is going to have an effect on what they do in motor racing.

“Probably what is the right perspective is that this is much bigger than motor racing. And therefore I don't see any impact on these activities.

“But who am I to speak about VW? I give you my opinion, but I obviously don't know what is happening behind closed doors.”