Volkswagen is seriously considering entering Formula One - but as an engine supplier rather than a constructor. But VW, as its Porsche takeover proves, doesn't do things by halves. It wants to build race engines for more than just F1 teams, but only if the FIA's plans for a 'world' engine - where a common engine could be applicable to multiple categories - come to fruition.
VW's motorsport representative - Ex-F1 hand Hans Joachim Stuck - revealed VW's F1 ambitions to German magazine Sport Bild.
"We are waiting for the FIA's decision in respect of the use of a world engine for Formula 1," Stuck told Auto Bild. "If there is [a world engine], we will discuss whether to build it for Formula 1."
If VW goes into F1 it will most likely be in 2013 with a 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine combined with a re-born KERS system - that's when the current 2.4-litre naturally aspirated V8s are expected to die.
No other F1 engine manufacturers have expressed an interest in the FIA's 'world engine' idea.