Volkswagen, the German carmaking giant, has played down suggestions it could launch a formula one project some time soon.

“There are always rumours about Volkswagen and formula one,” said Jost Capito, who has taken over from Kris Nissen as the head of the Wolfsburg-based company’s motor racing boss.

However, he is quoted by Germany’s Sport1 as insisting that VW is only concentrating on its world rally programme.

“The WRC programme is approved from 2013 to 2015,” Capito insisted. “There is no room to think about anything else.

“It (F1) is not on our radar,” he is also quoted as saying by France’s L’Equipe. “Our hands are full already.”

In the wake of BMW, Honda and Toyota’s departures, the only mass production carmakers in F1 are Renault – as an engine supplier – and Mercedes.

Ferrari, McLaren, Lotus and Caterham produce niche sports cars.

Volkswagen is contemplating a formula one foray, according to German reports.
The carmaker giant’s motor sport representative Wolfgang Durheimer told leading business magazine Wirtschaftswoche he has devised a preliminary plan for the future that includes F1.

“Later this year I will put forward proposals to the executive group for (involvement in) not only the racing series that we do already,” he said.

“It is true — in America, Asia and the Middle East, we are not sufficiently represented in motor sport,” added Durheimer.

The magazine cited sources in saying the first step for VW, already linked commercially with the Red Bull rookie team Toro Rosso, would be to become an engine supplier.

Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund has been named as the likely buyer of the lease of British grand prix venue Silverstone.
The Independent said Qatar Investment Authority – already owning shares in the London Stock Exchange, Volkswagen, Harrods, Miramax and French football club Paris Saint-Germain – is in exclusive talks with owner the British Racing Drivers’ Club.

Due diligence is taking place now and “a final decision is expected in the next six months”, said the British newspaper.

The report said part of the deal is that the 150-year leaseholders will have to maintain Silverstone “to make it suitable to retain the British grand prix” beyond 2017.

Qatar is one of the Arab emirates in the Middle East, located next to South Arabia and across the strait from Bahrain.

Red Bull appears likely to extend its engine supply agreement with Renault Sport F1 through to the end of the current V8 regulations.
The sport looks likely to adopt turbocharged V6 engines for 2014 and beyond, and in the meantime Red Bull is enjoying a significant sponsorship deal with the Renault-linked Nissan brand’s Infiniti label.

Italian magazine Autosprint’s auto.it website said Red Bull is therefore looking to extend its current Renault deal “at least until 2013″.

Red Bull’s technical boss Adrian Newey admitted this week that he is relieved he will not be working with a four-cylinder engine in 2013.

The AAP news agency quotes the Briton as revealing that F1 pushed ahead with the four-cylinder plan to help brands like Volkswagen enter the sport.

“They subsequently decided that no, they won’t bother after all thank you very much, and we were lumbered with a four-cylinder turbo,” he said.

Newey also revealed that the V6 rules will feature a higher rev limit than the 12,000rpm proposed for the inline-fours.

But whether it is high enough to appease angry circuit promoters, who want the current 18,000 limit to remain in place, is unknown.

“The revs are still being debated,” admitted Newey, “but it looks as if it will probably be around 14,000 or 16,000.”

Audi motor racing chief Wolfgang Ullrich has reinforced the Volkswagen Group marque’s decision to stay away from formula one.
As a debate rages about F1′s 2013 rules, it had been hoped that the turbo 4-cylinder formula would entice new manufacturers – like VW – onto the grid.

But Ullrich told Car Magazine that Le Mans-style endurance racing is the better bet for Audi.

“There’s a very good reason why we are not in F1,” he said. “There’s no relevance to the road.

“At Le Mans, one of our cars will cover 325 miles more than an F1 car will cover in an entire season, our average speed including pitstops will be 20mph higher than an F1 car and we will use 42 per cent less fuel.

“You cannot argue with those figures,” he said.

Porsche has continued to step away from its earlier hints about entering formula one in the near future.
Late last year, CEO Matthias Mueller said there are some “drawbacks” about entering F1 that are not present in other prominent series.

But then the FIA green-lighted the much anticipated new engine rules for 2013, causing Volkswagen representative Hans-Joachim Stuck to say the “conditions for a possible (F1) entrance of the … group have been created”.

However, Mueller insists that although VW brands including Porsche and Audi might often mention F1, the more realistic forays are elsewhere.

“There are undoubtedly some attractive aspects (of F1),” he told the Swiss car newspaper Automobil Revue.

“But there are other sides to it as well. Formula one is very expensive, while success is far less predictable (than in other series),” added Mueller.

He said a Le Mans foray for Porsche, in the premier LMP1 category, is a more likely target.

“We would not necessarily have to line up against Audi, but we would do it if we need to and it would mean there are two of the (VW) group’s brands fighting in the races.

“The likelihood that the group wins would therefore obviously be increased,” added Mueller.

He urged all the VW brands to get together to “agree on a motor sport strategy for the coming years”.

Renault sees the new engine formula for 2013 as a great opportunity, managing director Jean Francois Caubet has confirmed.

The French carmaker has withdrawn as a team owner of the Enstone based team that bears its name, but remains committed to supplying engines for at least the next three years.

That three-year period covers the transition from the current ‘frozen’ V8 engine formula to the new four-cylinder turbos that will debut in 2013.

“The engine for 2013 evens out the playing field,” said Caubet, addressing suggestions Renault’s current 2.4 litre unit is not up to speed with the leading Mercedes and Ferrari.

“The dossier of the FIA speaks for itself,” he added, according to motorsport-total.com. “There are technological innovations; the competition is completely open.

“There are precise rules for the costs, the materials, the number of engines per season and the speed (rev) limit. Technologically, we have great freedom,” said Caubet.

“Everyone starts with a blank sheet of paper. May the best win.”

With the new formula also designed to lure car manufacturers back to F1, Caubet admitted it is “too soon” for BMW to return, but indicated that Volkswagen is “hesitating”.

And he said there is a “third group” now eyeing F1.

“It is the Japanese,” confirmed Caubet. “I am surprised by their interest in the new engine, but of course the cost aspect may have changed the attitude.

“The Europeans are in front, the technologies are new — I suppose they cannot afford to not be here,” added Caubet, who indicated that Honda is seriously considering a return.

The Volkswagen group is not going to enter formula one.

That is the conclusion on Tuesday of a report in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper.

Last month, following speculation the German giant was considering entering F1 with Audi or Porsche branding, it emerged that VW would discuss the possibility during a meeting in early November.

The FAZ newspaper, citing definite but unnamed sources, now says Volkswagen chairman Ferdinand Piech has decided the marque will not be entering F1.

Interestingly, the report said Red Bull and McLaren had expressed their interest in being supplied engines by Volkswagen.

FAZ said VW is still interested in entering the world rally championship, as well as operating two programmes – with Porsche and Audi – at Le Mans.

The chances of seeing Porsche on the formula one grid in the near future have taken a backwards step.

The Volkswagen group, perhaps with the Porsche or Audi brands, has flagged entering the sport in 2013 along with a radical new engine formula.

But the German marque has made it abundantly clear that it needs the FIA to impose the so-called ‘world engine’ concept; a basic engine formula that can be applied across various premier motor sport categories.

SID news agency quotes Mercedes chief Norbert Haug as saying: “In the formula one meetings that I have attended, the ‘world engine’ was never a topic.”

In fact, he indicated that reports suggesting F1′s existing engine makers – concerned about the cost of implementing revolutionary rules changes – are pushing to retain some semblance of “stability” beyond 2012, are true.

The decision about a possible Formula 1 entry of VW brand is approaching: An important strategy meeting in early November.

If the “World Engine” holds in F1 feeder, then the Volkswagen group knocks on the door to the premier class. This statement has Motorsortrepräsentant Hans-Joachim Stuck made in recent months and over again. Since currently the new engine rules for the period from 2013 is on track, the time for a decision in Wolfsburg has also come soon.

In early November, it will give the group an important strategy meeting, “in which the procedure is discussed,” said Stuck to the ‘SID’. It is expected that at this important meeting not only advise on whether you want to climb in Formula 1, but discuss the same time, with any brand, this step would be most welcome.

Recent statements from the Porsche Executive Board had ensured that one could look at the Zuffenhausen as the first candidate from the camp of VW. But according to information from ‘Motor-Total.com’ a Formula 1 commitment from Audi is more probable. VW will decide, according to plaster at the meeting and a possible investment in the American NASCAR.

Bernie Ecclestone has welcomed reports Porsche is considering entering formula one in 2013.

“It sounds absolutely great,” the F1 chief executive told Bild newspaper by telephone, having not travelled to Japan this weekend.

“Whatever I can do to make it happen, I will,” added the 79-year-old Briton from London.

Porsche officials have already announced that a decision to enter formula one could only be taken if the FIA’s plans for a ‘World Engine’ come about.

Bild said the board of Porsche’s parent Volkswagen will meet early next month to make a decision.

Fellow German carmaker Mercedes’ motor racing vice president Norbert Haug commented: “I have no idea whether Porsche are going to come.

“If they do, congratulations and all the best.  If not, that’s a shame,” said the German.

Another fascinating rumour at the Paris motor show is that Porsche could soon be on the formula one grid.

Earlier this year, it was reported the sports car marque’s German parent Volkswagen might enter the sport when the engine regulations change in 2013.

At the time, it was suggested that either Audi or Porsche branding was likely.

Porsche’s new chief executive Matthias Mueller was asked at the Paris motor show this week whether it made sense for both Porsche and Audi to compete at Le Mans.

“We do not like to both go into LMP1; that is not so funny,” he is quoted by Autocar.

“So therefore we have to discuss whether it makes better sense for one of the brands to go into LMP1, and the other brand into formula one.  So we will have a round-table to discuss the pros and cons,” added Mueller.

In June this year, Audi’s motor sport boss Wolfgang Ullrich said F1 and Audi “do not fit”.

Porsche last competed in F1 as an engine supplier to Footwork in 1991.

Mueller also said in Paris that Volkswagen is considering a foray in NASCAR, with talks with the popular American series to reportedly begin after the current season.

Stuttgart-based Porsche’s revenues have risen 18 per cent to a record high, totalling EUR 7.8 billion in the latest financial year.

“Porsche will continue the positive trend in the current business year,” confirmed outgoing chief executive Michael Macht.

Hans-Joachim Stuck has left hospital after recovering from head surgery.

The German former grand prix driver and now Volkswagen’s competition representative had a hematoma removed just over a week ago, caused by a heavy crash in an Audi R8 at the Nurburgring.

The 59-year-old was recovering in hospital in the German town Neuwied, but has now left the St. Elisabeth-Krankenhaus, according to the news agency SID.

“Finally I can check out — man, I’m glad about that,” he is quoted as saying, thanking the staff for their “excellent care”.

Stuck, who contested 81 races in the 70s, said he is returning home to rest, with his next race in the German endurance championship scheduled for September 25.

Former German grand prix driver and now Volkswagen’s competition representative Hans-Joachim Stuck has had surgery after a head injury.

German-language reports including in the Welt, Kleine Zeitung and Express newspapers say the operation on Saturday was for a hematoma that developed after a heavy crash in an Audi R8 at the Nurburgring several weeks ago.

At another event last weekend, the VW Scirocco Cup support race at the Nurburgring, he complained of headaches, dizziness, loss of balance and nausea.

The reports say Stuck, who contested 81 races in the 70s, has been transferred from intensive care to a normal hospital ward in the German town Neuwied.

“We advised Strietzel (Stuck) after practice to consult a doctor,” confirmed VW motorsport director Kris Nissen.

The marque’s spokesman Stefan Moser confirmed the reports about Stuck’s surgery.

Williams wants to remain an independent formula one team, new chairman Adam Parr has insisted.

Now into a sixth consecutive season without a win, and thirteen seasons on since Jacques Villeneuve’s title, the famous British outfit might be ruing life in the paddock.

But Parr says Williams is “not actively looking” for a partner.  “We are independent and we enjoy that independence,” he is quoted as saying by the Motorsport Aktuell website.

Lotus boss and owner Tony Fernandes, whose AirAsia brand sponsors both his own team as well as Williams, admitted last weekend that he did have talks “about buying into Williams but it never worked out”.

After the works relationship with BMW ended in 2005, Parr admits that the days with carmaker backing – also including Williams’ past tie-ups with Honda and Renault – were good for performance.

Sir Frank Williams admitted at Silverstone that his team’s lack of results recently is “embarrassing”, and rumours suggest the feelers are out for a future partnership with Volkswagen.

“In the long term, the best model for an independent team is to form a partnership with an automotive manufacturer who supply the engines and a bit of sponsorship and we go racing,” said Parr.

“I think that is ultimately what we want again one day,” he added.