Why Doesn’t Porsche Have An F1 Car?

Porsche is one of the biggest names in motor racing, but they’re not currently in F1. They are also one of the most well-known car brands off the track as well. So, it is fair to wonder why Porsche doesn’t have an F1 car.

Porsche doesn’t have an F1 car for several reasons, with the main one being that it doesn’t suit their values as a company, being too far away from road cars, which are their priority. High costs are the other main reason they don’t have an F1 car, but they do participate in other motorsports.

Porsche have a massive share of the luxury and sports car market, and this drives their priority away from motorsport. However, they have still been involved in Formula 1 in the past, and their various other endeavors in motorsport are worth looking at to understand why they are not in F1 anymore.

A Bit Of Background About Porsche

Porsche is a German car manufacturer, founded in Stuttgart in 1931 by Ferdinand Porsche. They are famous for their sports cars, but they also have a wide range of SUVs and Sedans as well, with all of them being tailored to those looking for a bit of luxury. The early years of Porsche saw the brand offering development and consulting to other manufacturers, without building any cars themselves.

But this all changed after the arrival of the Volkswagen Beetle, as cars became almost material items and people wanted to have more than they had before. The brand is famous for their 911 line of cars, along with their SUV, the Cayenne. These cars have always been marketed as luxury high-performance vehicles, and they have won the company many awards over the years.

High Profit Margins

Porsche has become something of a household name, and the company does most of their business internationally. They claim to have the highest profit margins per car of any manufacturer, and in 2015 they reported pre-tax profits of more than $3 billion. But it is not just in production cars that Porsche has seen fame, as the marque is heavily involved in various motorsports as well.

Porsche In Other Motorsports

Before we consider Porsche in F1, it is useful to note the company’s participation and success in various other motorsports. They first got involved in car racing in the 1950s and 1960s, but it was a slow start with nothing showing too many signs of promise. They began by racing in race-specific versions of their road cars, and never really designed any purpose-built race cars for many years.

Their First Le Mans Victory

The first piece of major success that Porsche experienced came in 1970, when their 1969 917 model led them to victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. This is usually regarded as the ultimate event in endurance racing, and it was the first of many victories for Porsche. The company went on to dominate the 1970s with several key models, namely the 911 Carrera RS and the 935 Turbo.

They won at prestigious events such as Targa Florio, Daytona and Sebring, which just continued to bring the company more fame and they became known as one of the most successful motorsport teams in the world. They rumbled along through the 1970s and 1980s, eventually creating some of the fastest and most powerful race cars in the world, with lots of success both at Le Mans and in CanAm racing.

7 In A Row

The Carrera RSR was one of their most successful cars, along with the 917. An open top version of the 917 is what brought them many wins in CanAm racing, and various other models helped them dominate the 1970s. The 1980s saw their longest streak of victories in Le Mans, with Porsche managing to win seven times in a row from 1981 to 1987, with 107 class victories as well.

The 1990s were also fruitful for the German manufacturer, with back-to-back Le Mans titles coming in 1996 and 1997. To date, Porsche are the most successful team at Le Mans, with a total of 19 outright wins. This puts them well ahead of rivals Audi and Ferrari, who have 13 wins and 9 wins respectively. But it is not just in endurance racing that Porsche found fame.

Rally Racing

Rally racing has also been a part of Porsche’s motorsport history, with the team earning several wins over the year. A Porsche 912 was driven to victory in the 1967 European Rally Championship by Sobieslaw Zasada, and they sealed victory in the International Championship for Manufacturers in 1970. They won several WRC events, although not as a team, through private use of their vehicles.

This was common across other motorsports as well. Even though the Porsche team may not have had much rally success after the 1970s, their cars have been used to win many events, showcasing the power of the cars they produce. The company did also enter a team into IndyCar, where it raced on and off from 1980 through to its withdrawal after the 1990 season, with mixed results.

Porsche Supercup

The modern era has seen the creation of the Porsche Supercup, which is a one-make style competition using Porsche GT3 cars. It is also an official support series of the Formula 1 World Championship. The tracks are usually European, but there are some events held in places like the USA and in the Middle East, and the competition has been running since 1993.

Porsche have always noted that racing is an integral part of the engineering development side of automobiles. Essentially, they see racing as the perfect way to find out how cars should be designed, and through their racing endeavors they are able to gain insights that allow them to build all of their globally popular cars.

KEY POINTS

• Porsche are one of the biggest car manufacturers in the world

• They’ve also seen success in the world of motorsport

• They hold the record for the most Le Mans victories with 19

Porsche In F1

With such a rich history in motorsport, it is fair to wonder why Porsche does not have an F1 team, given that F1 is by far the most lucrative motorsport for many brands. But Porsche was indeed in F1 many years ago, putting forward a team that managed to win a race. Before this, Porsche had designed cars in the 1920s and 1930s to be used by the likes of Mercedes in Grand Prix racing.

A Short Stint

But their direct involvement in F1 came in 1961, after they had already fielded a two-seater car in the Formula 2 series. But their history in F1 as a constructor did not last long. Their only championship race victory came at the 1962 French Grand Prix, although they won non championship races and sold their cars to be used by privateers in later years.

They did then return to Formula One in 1983, although this time only as an engine manufacturer. This makes sense as Porsche had become one of the largest and best automakers in the world, and it seemed only right that their prowess in the motorsport industry was implemented in some form in F1. Their water-cooled V6 engines were made for McLaren, branded as TAG power units.

Winning Form

This stint in the sport was far more successful than their first, as they managed to help manufacturers using their engines to two Constructors’ Championships, and three drivers managed to win the Drivers’ Championship as well. In total, Porsche powered cars won 25 races between 1984 and 1987, with two of the biggest names the sport, Alain Prost and Niki Lauda, racing with Porsche engines.

Even though they had this success, the engines were known to be less powerful than their rivals. Honda and BMW could push more power out of their engines, which gave them a big boost during qualifying sessions. Even though Porsche managed to get plenty of pole positions, their engine lacked the turbo power to keep their drivers satisfied, and high costs ultimately ended their success.

Disaster Strikes

Porsche then returned to F1 for a third time in 1991. This was not as successful as their previous stints, with the engines failing to score the Footwork Arrows team a single point. Porsche was fearful of putting their name on the engines back in the 1980s in case they failed dramatically, but this time their failure meant everyone knew who was responsible, and they have not returned to F1 since.

Potential For A Return For Porsche To F1

After their success in the 1980s, regulations changed and engines evolved, and the drivers using Porsche engines wanted a separate engine made for qualifying. Qualifying requires drivers to push their cars much more than they do in the race, and so more power in the engine during this part of the race weekend would prove vital in getting the best possible starting position on race day.

Porsche did not oblige due to the high costs. Plus, they were adamant that they could still hold their own with their engine, and they did for several races. But ultimately things got too expensive for Porsche, and when they returned in 1991, they reportedly just used two of their old engines side by side, minus the turbochargers, which must have saved a lot of money versus developing a new engine.

Not Fully Committed To F1

F1 is an extremely expensive sport. In the current era, teams are spending hundreds of millions of dollars each year developing new cars. This requires a lot of upfront investment, and the teams need to be fully committed to their F1 endeavors. Mercedes have benefitted from their focus on Formula 1 in the last decade or so (alongside their road cars), but Porsche have more of their focus on their road cars.

Lack Of Historical Connection

Mercedes has not always been successful in F1, but they have been in the sport almost since it began, debuting in 1954. Porsche does not have this historical connection, and with teams coming and going throughout the years it is clear that it’s not easy for a new team to come onto the scene and have enough success to make it worth continuing.

Red Bull may be a good counterexample to this, having won four world championships in a row from 2010-2013 with Sebastian Vettel. Their major industry until that point was the energy drinks market. This did not conflict with F1 in any way, and it allowed them to spend a lot of money in a short amount of time and benefit from the incredible results of quadruple back to back championships (and obviously more championships followed in the 2020s).

Focus On Production Cars

Porsche on the other hand has so much invested in the production car market that it becomes hard for them to align with F1. Where teams like Ferrari and McLaren have evolved their production car businesses alongside their F1 racing endeavors, Porsche put their sole focus on their road cars since their inception, with racing being somewhat of a side development.

People think of Ferrari and instantly think of racing, if not solely F1. People think of Porsche and think of expensive road cars. Although they have achieved wild success in the likes of Le Mans, their motorsport ventures have been very sporadic, and they have lacked the consistency of their Italian rivals. This has made it difficult for them to put a lot of focus into F1.

Potential Comeback

However, there were rumors circulating in recent years that Porsche was going to make a comeback in the world of F1. Porsche was withdrawing from Le Mans (although they’re now back), which stalled the efforts to create an F1-compatible engine. The main reason for this was that Porsche decided to focus on entering Formula E, which uses electric vehicles and so there was no longer any need to create a combustion engine for either endurance racing or for a potential re-entry into Formula 1.

This was about as close as Porsche got to getting back into Formula 1 since its 1991 disaster. The amount of money involved in designing and developing engines and cars for F1 has been deemed too vast at this stage for Porsche to put any of their road car focus back onto motorsport.

However, it was announced in 2022 that Porsche would return to F1 as a result of the planned 2026 rule changes. It was likely that they would partner with Red Bull in some way, but this deal fell apart in September of 2022. In early 2023, Red Bull announced partnership with Ford for 2026, leaving Porsche’s F1 future very much unclear for now.

Formula E

Plus, the team has managed to score a couple of podiums and wins in Formula E. This is promising and suggests that the team will continue to grow within the sport, and probably stay away from F1 until at least 2026.

KEY POINTS

• Porsche has been in F1 in various ways multiple times in the past

• Their engines have powered drivers to many victories and two WDCs

• They still race in Formula E, and may join Formula 1 in 2026

Final Thoughts

Porsche is one of the most famous car brands in the world. Known for their luxury and sport lineups, with their cars being some of the most recognizable on the road, it’s no surprise that they have also delved into the world of racing as well. Their motorsport history is something to be proud of, with a record number of wins at Le Mans being the highlight by far.

However, they have also jumped into the world of F1 on several occasions, and even powered some of the championship-winning cars in the 1980s. But for now, Porsche’s potential future in F1 is unclear.