Ever since the boom in F1’s popularity in the last few years, many automakers have come forward, expressing their interest in sharing the pie. Among them is the Volkswagen Group, hoping to make an entry into the championship through its two mega brands: Audi and Porsche. While the former sealed a deal with the Sauber Group (Alfa Romeo) to compete together from the 2026 season, the latter was in talks with Red Bull. The talks eventually fell through and in the recent 2023 livery launch event, the Milton-Keynes-based outfit announced its partnership with Ford. Outside of the venue, though, was a Porsche 918 with a Red Bull livery parked in all its glory. That gave fans a glimpse of what could have been.

Porsche wanted a 50% partnership in all the operations of team Red Bull. However, Max Verstappen‘s team was perhaps looking for just a partnership in powertrain manufacturing, beginning the 2026 season. Eventually, the deal could not realize and the Austrian team went with American car manufacturer Ford.

Rare spotting outside Red Bull launch event leaves fans cooking up interesting theories

2026 will bring a host of changes for the cars, as F1 reiterates its commitment to environmental sustainability. The new power units will run on 100% sustainable fuel and will extract more power through electric components. Ford is currently going through a phase where they are trying to manufacture more and more electric vehicles in every segment. Therefore, Red Bull choosing to partner with them was an obvious choice.

However, the $845,000-worth Porsche 918 (as per Car Buzz) with RB livery had fans wondering if the F1 team had them on standby in case the Ford deal did not go through. Have a look at some reactions to the photo posted by F1 journalist Chris Medland.

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Some were quick to spot “S. Perez” written on the side of the roof of the car.

Some fans felt bad for Porsche, as they felt the German brand still wanted a tie-up with the champion F1 team.

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Some felt the livery did not look good on Porsche 918. What are your views?