Porsche answer Red Bull F1 model question after second Formula E factory team confirmed

Porsche Formula E team principal Florian Modlinger has answered whether any inspiration has been taken from Red Bull's Formula 1 model, following the announcement that a second factory team would be entered into the series by the German manufacturer.

It was revealed on Monday that Porsche had acquired a second Formula E license to enter another factory squad into the championship – from the start of Gen4 at the end of 2026 (Season 13). 

The announcement follows Porsche's decision to leave the World Endurance Championship, to apply more focus on its IMSA and Formula E operations. 

With a second Porsche factory team to enter the all-electric series, its presence in the category from a factory perspective will increase, although the number of Porsches on the grid will remain the same. 

From Gen4, Porsche will continue to run six cars, two in each factory team and two in one customer outfit. While Formula E has seen a manufacturer and customer team work very closely, no manufacturer has ever openly held two factory licenses based out of the same facility. 

Stellantis, of course, runs two of its brands in the series – DS and Citröen – but what Porsche has committed to is different. As part of Porsche's announcement, it revealed that the second factory outfit would be used to promote new talent into the series, not just in regard to drivers. 

It will also be based out of its development centre in Weissach, Germany, just like the current factory team. Due to this, fans quickly speculated that Porsche had replicated Red Bull's F1 model, of having a 'junior' squad (Racing Bulls) and an 'A-team' (Red Bull Racing). 

Asked if Porsche had taken any inspiration from Red Bull's F1 model, Modlinger told RacingNews365: "I would say you always monitor in all series what's going on and so on, I would say we are not looking too much at others. 

"We focus on ourselves clearly. And you also have examples in Formula E of manufacturer and customer teams where they were really close together, or groups which have two [brands] in different teams in the series already. 

"So, it's good working together, cooperation, this chance you also have with customer teams. And every manufacturer and every team is on its own, responsible for how to sort this and how to achieve this. 

"And I have to say, we focus on our own and try to get the best out of it for us, with our customers and upcoming customers, and that's the main target."

How the second factory team will look

With the announcement regarding the second factory outfit having now been made, Porsche can focus on planning how exactly the team will look. 

As part of the initial announcement, Porsche Motorsport Vice President Thomas Laudenbach stated that it would be tailored around promoting "new talent". 

How that fresh talent will be incorporated into the outfit is something Porsche will plan across the next Formula E season – the last of the Gen3 era – which gets underway in São Paulo on December 6.

"We try now to have, instead of two cars, four cars," Modlinger began to explain. "How we will reshuffle this and where we can place talent, that's too early to really [say]. 

"It's now a new situation, and all the details now need to be planned. This means now the process starts. And yeah, it will be a lot of work, but we are at the beginning of this work, and we now have one season to go with the Gen3 Evo cars. 

"We have one season's time to [complete] this planning, to set everything up correctly with all the different thoughts we have in mind, and then we can tell more about it. 

"But in general, to have four cars instead of two, you have the chance to bring the talents in wherever you like, and there we need to develop now the strategy and the details. But, that's the future."