Red Bull pulled out of Porsche F1 deal at final stage, account says

Red BullRed Bull RacingAustria4th POS204 PTS withdrew from a planned Formula 1Formula 1 World ChampionshipInternational partnership with Porsche at the very last moment, according to an account of negotiations that collapsed in late summer 2022. The two companies had reached an agreement to combine their efforts in grand prix racing, but the arrangement came apart before it could be completed. The account has been published almost exactly four years after the talks ended.

The broad outline is not new. What has been missing is detail: the people directly involved have rarely discussed the failed venture in public, and neither company has set out a full explanation of why negotiations that had gone so far did not finish. The latest version of events, attributed to someone with knowledge of the discussions, concentrates on the closing phase of the talks.

2026

---

POS

4th

PTS

204

WINS

0

POLES

0

Season 2026

What was reported about the deal

Edward Dyer · CC BY-SA 4.0

The mooted partnership has been described in billion-dollar terms, although no figure, shareholding or contract length has been confirmed by either company. The central reported detail is that Red Bull walked away at the final stage rather than complete the arrangement. No official reason has been attached to that decision.

Why the collapse still matters

Ank Kumar · CC BY-SA 4.0

A Red Bull-Porsche programme would have placed a major manufacturer alongside one of the grid's established teams, and the failure of the talks closed off that route. Analysis: the striking element is timing rather than outcome. The account describes an agreement that had been negotiated at length and was abandoned only as it neared completion, which is not how such discussions usually conclude.

What has not been said

Neither Red Bull nor Porsche has explained why the talks ended, and no valuation or contractual term has been disclosed. It is not known whether either company disputes the account, what each side proposed to contribute, or how the venture would have been structured. There is no suggestion that the idea has been revived, and no timetable for a statement from either party.

How the talks ended

• Late summer 2022: the planned Red Bull-Porsche Formula 1 partnership collapses, with Red Bull reported to have pulled out at the final stage after lengthy negotiations.
• September 2026: an account of how the deal fell apart is published, almost four years on.

What happens next

This is a retrospective rather than a live negotiation, so the immediate consequences are limited. The account addresses a period that the companies themselves have left largely unexplained. Whether either responds to it, and whether any of the reported detail is contested, are the questions still open.