Porsche’s head of motorsport Thomas Laudenbach says he was “surprised as anyone” over the recent social media frenzy that tied the German manufacturer to the Williams Formula 1 team.
Last month, Porsche posted a video on its Formula E Instagram page, while also wiping all previous content from being viewed.
A frame in the promotional video appeared to outline the head of Frank Williams, the founder of the Williams F1 team.
F1 fans theorised that Porsche was set to enter a partnership with the Williams squad, with Gulf backing the outfit as the oil company hinted it had “big news” to share.
Porsche’s social media announcement turned out to be a change in approach with its online content, as it brought all of its motorsport activities under one page.
Laudenbach says that he found the situation “funny”.
“I was so surprised that this happened in public,” he told Motorsport.com. “It had nothing to do with it [F1]!
“We were just sorting out our [social media] channels, it didn’t have anything to do with coming close to Formula 1. We were as surprised as anyone.
“In a way, it was funny, but I think it’s all clear and sorted now.”
Porsche was interested in joining F1 in 2026 when new power unit regulations will come into play, having been in talks with Red Bull.
However the German manufacturer has not signed up to the new cycle of rules, with the FIA confirming the six parties that are involved last week.
Laudenbach remained coy when prompted if Porsche will look F1 again in the future.
“You see what happens as soon as anything like this comes up… Right now we concentrate on our programmes, and we have great variety as Porsche Motorsport with IMSA, WEC, Formula E and all our customer sports, which is huge.
“We are flat-out right now and happy with it, and as for anything else, we’ll see.”
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