Volkswagen says no to F1 in 2012
The Volkswagen brand has once again announced that it will not be entering F1 in the near or medium-term future.
Despite numerous speculations aiming to link the destinies of Formula One and the German brand, the company has rejected this idea, as well as the idea of a commitment to NASCAR.
According to the news agency Reuters, in a dispatch received yesterday, the director of the technological development department at Volkswagen, Ulrich Hackenberg, when asked about the company’s intentions to expand its sports activities to F1 2012 and NASCAR, said: “There is nothing that concerns us. Some people in the world would certainly like us to do this, but it is not in our program.”
“I should know what I’m talking about,” he added, “this is far beyond my budget.”
However, be careful not to interpret Hackenberg’s statements too quickly. Indeed, he is speaking about the Volkswagen brand and not the VAG group, the world’s third-largest group encompassing Audi, Seat, Skoda, Lamborghini, Bugatti, and Bentley. Thus, an entry of the VAG group into F1 by 2013 cannot be ruled out. Audi still seems to be in pole position to be the flagship.
It is also worth knowing that the Volkswagen brand is actively preparing its return to the WRC around 2012-2013.
