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World Endurance Ch'ship Shanghai


tazzieman

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It would be a shame if Audi leave the WEC. Do you think there is anything to the rumour of move to F1, leaving Porsche to the WEC with in effect just Toyota as main competition?.

 

I have seen a few 'concept' drawings of a supposed Ferrari LMP1 being considered?.

 

Jenson Button to join the Porsche team from next season?. I say make it happen...

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From a marketing point of view F1 is a vexed topic.  It costs a fortune to do engine development and I think an engine program alone is more expensive than an entire WEC program with both engine and chassis.

 

The issue then is one of marketing and consumer expectation of performance.  I think if the Audi or VW brand moved into F1 there would be a longer grace period before they start winning than there would be for the Porsche brand.  Just being in F1 would add credibility to both VW and Audi brands.  However for Porsche just making up the numbers (ala Footwork) is bad for the brand as Porsche is a more premium brand and others would use it as a marketing advantage to say they have beaten Porsche to the F1 championship.

 

I think VW is keen to protect its brand from scavenging results against each other.  At the moment VW has just secured its second WRC title in a row.  So logical positioning would be for VW in WRC, Porsche in WEC and Audi as an engine supplier in F1.

 

Some of the Red Bull senior people have prior history with the VW Group and so Audi may be able to position themselves as an Engine Partner for Red Bull in the future.

 

BTW apparently Jenson Button has a Porsche contract and they are pressuring him to sign it.  The thing is F1 switches to three cars for the top teams, Jenson suddenly becomes a valuable proposition again so he is biding his time.

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