Renault will decide direction of Formula 1 future by end of 2015 - F1 news - AUTOSPORT.com
I highly doubt it. If Renault really leaves, it reflects what a disaster the new rules have been on F1. It was supposed to be to woo in manufacturers, not chase them away
Why not race under Porsche or Lamborghini though? Since we are really talking VW here right? I'd prefer to see those brands vs Audi personally.
Why replace? I´d prefer to add. Although VW is a terrible adversary, probably worse than Mercedes: they have unlimited funds and they´ve shown in the past that they´re nasty when playing politics.
Renault as a brand has zero sex appeal - Whereas Audi v Mercedes v Ferrari v McLaren Sounds much more exciting that Renault and Red Bull being in the mix and thats just IMO
You have probably all heard of the re-organization now underway a VW corporate. Volkswagen, Seat and Skoda under one head. Audi, Ducati and Lamborghini under seperate direction, Porsche, Bugatti and Bentley under a third. Trucks under a fourth. Looks like the Audi/Lamborghini/Ducati brand could lend itself to a new lightweight F1 motor (speculation on my part).
Of course, Audi has little left to prove in the prototype class. Where to go from there? Continue dominating or move up? Moving up would be the natural progression. However, with Porsche's victory at Le Mans this past weekend, Audi has a new challenge in prototypes... CW
Interesting that they are seriously considering a works team, perhaps behind the scenes Renault believes that they can do a better job then either of the Red Bull teams. I wonder if Renault blames the teams for all the problems they have had this season.
My bet is if Renault doesn't buy Toro Rosso as they're more interested in Lotus/Total anyway, Audi will and call it Lambo
But Porsche, Bentley and Bugatti all have GP history. Only Audi can make that claim, not Lambo or Ducatti. That said I like your line of thinking, except that the current PU specs are so tightly drawn that there are only marginal gains that a "new" manufacturer can bring. VW are much better off to wait for the next formula to consider getting in. My guess is that Renault gets out, Merc continues to dominate, Ferrari gets close but never quite catches up and Honda will continue to be a single team laggard.
What Le Mans proved - its not the hybrids or turbocharging, or energy recovery systems, or lack of V16's that are a problem. The two singles biggest issues, are a tire designed to break up from heat, and an engine with a flat fuel rate limit. Next to that, although for budget reasons, lack of ability to develop the lump. Allow different size fuel tanks, refueling or no refueling at a team's discretion, return to a tire war, remove the fuel flow limit, and if you do restrict fuel, limit the amount for a race.
If you look at pre 1950 GP history - Bentley and Bugatti all had cars that race in Grand Prix events... Both Porsche and Bugatti - had Post 1950 GP Cars - both were basically failures - Porsche did win one GP with Dan Gurney... I think Audi has such a firm place in Prototypes that it may make sense to stay there ... but do an LMP2 car as well as LMP 1 with Porsche... I'd go in as Bugatti F1 - there is ZERO down side to not winning right away, and if its really successful you can build another Ferrari type marketing merchandize empire. & Personally i htink it would be cool to have another historic name back in F-1 - Just like Lotus coming back ( even if its not the real one.) Or go in as Auto Union - which is still held by Audi as a defunct company. Bentley with its new "sports" car could also be an alternative - perhaps as an engine supplier. Going in as Lamborghini can also work - but again if you dont succeed right away does it turn off people against Lambo vs. Ferrari? - prob not. Ideally you could position your self as: 1. A full factory team branded as you like 2. Sell customer engines under both Lamborghini, Bentley or Ducatti 3. Sell customer Chassis under Auto Union or Porsche brands...
Unless FIA get their act together and allow in-season testing/development, it will be brand suicide for any engine manufacture to enter the sport under today's rules.
Not convinced Audi will want to dilute it's WEC credentials with a potentially risky and likely disastrous F1 entry… Lambo on the other hand would make a viable option.
There are diminishing returns for Audi winning so many times in a row, bringing Porsche into Le Mans, and then Audi into F1, may make marketing sense. Audi's per race budget is probably a lot higher in the WEC. Although, less races.
Ouch, touché. To be fair: it´s not just Renault, the Red Bull chassis is crap too, their poor sibling Toro Rosso with same engine and driven by newbies is quite often close to them.
The reason I understand VW Group bought Ducati was to get the high power light weight engine technology. This year's Moto GP combination is doing pretty well. And its my understanding from a past life that the Agnelli family through its investment arm owns a portion of Piaggio. But I am to confirm any financial connection today.
