The Porsche single-seaters

From the very beginning, Porsche has been committed to competition and its entire production has been designed with this in mind. It was therefore inevitable that Porsche would one day take an interest in Formula 1, in order to demonstrate its technical know-how in this leading discipline. However, its experience in F1 as a manufacturer was to end with mixed results and its official participation lasted only two seasons (1961 and 1962).

The initial entry of the Zuffenhausen-based manufacturer into Formula 1 was encouraged by the new regulations established by the International Sports Commission from the 1961 season onwards. Even then, the ISC was concerned about the increasing power of F1 cars and decided to limit engine capacity to 1,500 cm3, allowing F2 cars to enter the category. The Porsche factory racing team, which had been racing in F2 since 1957, was ready to make the step into the premier league.

A promising start  

In 1959, a special chassis was built for F2 racing, after using modified 550 RS Spyders. This 718 with a 1,498 cc flat four cylinder engine (Type 547/3 with 150 hp) won the 1960 F2 championship and was also regularly lined up in F1, where F2 chassis with ballast were allowed to participate. By the end of the 1961 season, and despite a very good 3rd place in the Constructors' Championship, Porsche was well aware that its modest 4-cylinder flat engine would soon find it difficult to compete with the powerful V6 and V8 engines of its competitors. 

Since December 1960, a 1,494.4 cc flat 8-cylinder engine had been in development. This new engine, called Type 753 and rated at 185 hp at 9,200 rpm, was mounted in the brand new Type 804-F1 tubular chassis that was specially designed for the purpose. The streamlined single-seater made its debut at the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort on May 20, 1962. In subsequent races, results were disappointing for both factory drivers Jo Bonnier and Dan Gurney, until the latter won the ACF GP. Despite its more than honourable performance (5th in the championship) Porsche decided to officially withdraw from F1 to concentrate on its Sport Prototypes and GT programmes, while private Porsche cars continued to be lined up until 1964. There were several reasons for this: first of all economic, but also because of the Flat 8 engine which, having arrived a little late in competition, was surpassed by those of Coventry Climax, BRM and Ferrari.

Return to Grand Prix

Porsche returns to F1 as engine manufacturer for the McLaren team starting in 1983. During the 1981/1982 off-season, Ron Dennis, who had just taken over the management of the McLaren International F1 team, enters into a partnership with the Swiss-Saudi financial group TAG (Techniques d'Avant Garde) under the leadership of Mansour Ojjeh. The project involves the study of a V6 Turbo engine in collaboration with Porsche, while two-time world champion Niki Lauda is asked to participate in the adventure. The new MP4/1E single-seater, specially designed by engineer John Barnard for the new TTE-P01 engine, received its first track test at the Dutch Grand Prix on 28 August 1983, driven by Lauda (returned from retirement).  

The following year, the TAG Porsche became an unbeatable engine and, in partnership with McLaren, would leave its mark on F1 for four seasons. The record speaks for itself: from 1984 to 1987, single-seaters powered by the Porsche V6 won 25 Grands Prix and scored 405.5 championship points! Moreover, McLaren won the Constructors' Championship in 1984 and 1985, while Niki Lauda won the Drivers' World Championship in 1984 and Alain Prost that of 1985 and 1986. Porsche was absent from F1 racing for the 1988 season, but returned in 1991 with a 3,500cc naturally-aspirated V12 engine that equips the Footwork A11C... without success.

The North American adventure 

The United States was an important market for passenger cars and Porsche regularly participated in races here, such as the CanAm. In 1978, the first "Porsche-Indy" project was launched and was to come to fruition in 1980 with a planned entry in the Indianapolis 500. The single-seater entered by the Interscope team was a Parnelli P6B chassis equipped with a 2,650 cm3, 630 hp flat six cylinder developed at Weissach under the direction of Helmut Flegl. A last-minute conflict between USAC and CART over the engine's boost pressure forced Porsche to abandon the Indy Car project. The German manufacturer returned to the CART championship in 1988 and 1990 with the Porsche 2708 Indy. It was a March 89P chassis with a 2,649 cc, 738 hp V8 turbo engine designed by the indefatigable Hans Mezger. The only victory of this March Porsche was that of Teo Fabi at Mid-Ohio on 3 September 1989.