[hanmust]

An official of the German luxury car brand Audi has hinted that parent group Volkswagen might enter formula one if the costs continue to come down.

Reinhold Carl, managing director of Audi Singapore, is quoted by the Straits Times newspaper as musing that while budgets are dropping, teams still need to fork out "well over a hundred million euros" for an annual F1 programme.

"If the cost is lower, it will be more manageable," he told reporters.
However, after car marques including Jaguar, Honda and BMW pulled out, amid rumours that Toyota and Renault might soon follow, Carl admitted that the gains from being on the grand prix grid remain vague.

He reckons that if VW was to decide to field a team, it would be branded either Porsche or Audi "or even Volkswagen".

Source: WorldCarFans.com

[GTO]

An official of the German luxury car brand Audi has hinted that parent group Volkswagen might enter formula one if the costs continue to come down.

Basically, VW is telling Bernie to lower costs. It knows that F1 is losing manufacturers every year, the current cost of running a top team are simply too high. Add to that the recent recession, its probably the worst time for a manufacturer to enter F1. As an F1 enthusiast, I'd love to see VW / Audi entering the field.

But the fact is : If you don't get it right, you goof up. Just ask Jaguar, their terrible performance actually deteriorated brand value. VW would be better off doing a "Brawn VW" or similar. Starting a team from scratch requires some commitment. Atleast 5 - 10 years before you are at the top.