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Originally Posted by chernaudi
Then why are Porsche gone? I've heard and read that a lot of the things that Porsche aren't happy about (ACO rulings, promotion, returns on investment) are the same things Audi Sport reportedly weren't happy about.
Also, Daimler were in bigger trouble if anything than VAG were and they still have a F1 team, and though they killed their DTM program, DTM is probably a fraction of what Mercedes-Benz spends on F1 every season.
I suspect that at DSC/RLM that Graham and Hindy aren't on the same page. Given that Hindy was saying that Porsche could be gone as early as last year. And he and others said that the EOT being what it was certainly ticked Audi Sport off.
Not to mention spending $150+million a year to win two races in each of their last three seasons didn't help when they spent between 1/2 and 2/3 that to win 6 races in 2013 alone.
I think that there's a lot more involved than just dieselgate. I think it's like Hindy said a while back on Midweek Motorsports FB page, that it's politics within VAG and between VAG and the ACO that was the deciding factor.
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So many points!
OK - Porsche are unlikely to mention the words 'dieselgate' and 'cartel' in any public statement now are they - it is a fact though that the first recall of their vehicles on emissions revelations was the very same day that they announced their withdrawal. The fallout from those issues are the two biggest threats to traditional factory-backed motorsport in play right now.
The value they were drawing from WEC was certainly an issue - and they and other factory efforts need to accept their own part in activation - or at times lack of it - but principally that was because they had already won everything there was to win - at least twice.
Porsche's marketing approach was significantly different from Audi's. Audi never had any doubt that their LMP1 programme was paying dividends - Privately their figures made it VERY clear that they were doing much better via LMP1 than they would via F1.
Audi did not withdraw because of EoT - They may not have been happy about it but it was NOT the reason they went.
Also there was MAJOR unhappiness at Audi Sport that they left LMP1 but were still in DTM.
The budgets for LMP1 were not the issue either for Audi or Porsche - indeed they were driving the costs upwards. Both acknowledge massive pluses in R&D via their LMP1 programmes - as do Toyota.
Porsche's withdrawal was not a surprise, and certainly not a shock but there are a number of ways that one can prepare for it, respond to it and comment upon it.
I was very much in the loop amongst those that were examining evidence, analysing it and coming to conclusions - The reality until this week was that no decision had been taken, though it was looking increasingly likely to be made. In those circumstances it's completely correct to report that there are doubts, entirely incorrect to say a decision has been made.
Beyond this week's sad news though, whilst the budgets necessary for success are the oft quoted reason behind a lack of new blood in recent seasons, the bigger reason is the ability of any newcomer to reach the stratospheric level of the three factory teams in a reasonable period of time.
The reality behind the politicking around new entrants is that it is just as much about prompting at least a soft reset of technology, to negate the advantage of current competitors, as it is about pure reduction of cost