The key aspects of Porsche and Audi's planned F1 entries

The VW Group’s German superpowers of sportscar racing have all but confirmed they are coming to F1 when the next set of engine rules come into force in 2026. Here's why both manufacturers are all set to take the plunge, and crucially how it might work

Audi and Porsche have crafted titanic legacies in motorsport. The game-changing Audi Quattro established 40 years ago that surefooted four-wheel drive was fundamental for World Rally Championship success. Porsche has mastered the Le Mans 24 Hours with its record 19 victories. That run was started by the 917, arguably the greatest competition car of all time, which partially provided the template around which the Group C regulations – a hallowed era of sportscar racing that Porsche also dominated thanks to the 956/962 – were devised.

But for neither manufacturer did the light shine quite so brightly with their forays into grand prix racing. Bernd Rosemeyer delivered Audi precursor Auto Union, with its Type C designed by Ferdinand Porsche, the European championship spoils in 1936. But it was swiftly toppled by Mercedes and never resumed its top-flight presence after the Second World War.

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Author Matt Kew

Matt Kew is Autosport's F1 Editor, a role he has held since March 2022 after stints covering Formula E, Extreme E and the British Touring Car Championship.

Matt joined Autosport in 2018 to work predominantly on the magazine, but his relentless quoting of Alan Partridge meant office colleagues soon thought he would be better suited to increased field work.

Needless to say, Matt had the last laugh when he won the Motorsport UK Young Journalist of the Year Award in 2019.

His interest in motorsport was sparked by regular trips to watch ASCAR crash around Rockingham's banked oval.

Matt read politics and philosophy at the University of Sheffield - receiving first-class honours for his dissertation assessing the lack of female participation in top-tier motor racing.

He covered a wide variety of national race and rally meetings for Autosport as a freelancer before joining full-time. His best efforts to argue the merits of historic racing is undone by a questionable taste in music and James Bond actors.