Porsche rules out F1

In February the marque's head of motorsport Hartmut Kristen denied that recent infrastructure developments were in preparation for a Grand Prix return.

He has now referred to Porsche as a small independent manufacturer despite the fact that it was awarded first place last May as the most prestigious automobile brand by New York's Luxury Institute.

"The question for us is: can the capital commitment that would be necessary for Formula One return enough to make it preferable to other projects?" Hartmut said.

"So far we have concluded that it cannot."

Porsche first entered the pinnacle of motorsport in the late 50s. In 1962 Dan Gurney won the French Grand Prix before the marque withdrew to concentrate on sports car racing.

In 1983-1987, they built a turbo engine for McLaren with great success under the TAG banner.

Porsche abandoned its disastrous final attempt to return to F1 after just a handful of races with Footwork in 1991.