Porsche could’ve been forced into F1

Ugly Porsche 919

Porsche "would have had no other alternative" but to enter Formula 1 if its parent company had prevented it from taking on stablemate Audi at Le Mans, reports Autosport.

Porsche research and development boss Wolfgang Hatz admits in this week's AUTOSPORT magazine that F1 and a return to the front of the sportscar grid in LMP1 were the only options when it was deciding how to go back to what he describes as "front-line motorsport" for the first time since the 1990s.

"There were only two options – F1 or LMP," he said. "But Le Mans is our second home.

"What could have influenced it was if someone in the group had said 'Yes, but Audi is there and you cannot compete with Audi'.

"If someone from senior management had said this is not possible, we would have had no other alternative [but F1]."

The LMP program is for three years. Next year they will decide whether to stay or perhaps move to F1.