Although the Audi/Porsche/Volkswagen automotive company discarded its main obstacle to potential Formula One participation – its chairman of the board, Ferdinand Piech – last week, the company is officially saying, for now anyway, that they have no immediate interest in participating in Formula One racing. Speculation had intensified about Audi/Porsche/VW’s possible participation in F1 after Piech was tossed aside due to the fact that Piech was not fond of F1 chief, Bernie Ecclestone. With Piech out of the way and many senior leadership members of the company supportive of a possible F1 move, there was a possibility that it could happen sooner rather than later. But the company quashed that notion by releasing a statement saying there was no current interest in joining F1 with their own team or purchasing another team [i.e. Toro Rosso, Red Bull or, say, Manor]. Audi/Porsche/VW is not interested in participating in F1 while Ecclestone is in charge, so the most likely scenario is that any possible participation in F1 will have to wait until Ecclestone is genuinely out the door as its chief.
The 2015 Formula One season continues with the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona at 5 a.m. [PDT] on NBCSN on May 10, 2015.