The dust is settling on Porsche's Hypercar bombshell announcement two days ago, and it's safe to say there are more questions than answers.
To recap quickly: the German manufacturer is quitting the FIA World Endurance Championship's Hypercar class for 2026, despite the programme originally being secure until the end of 2027.
Tim Fullbrook
The team, run by Penske, will continue in the US-based IMSA Sportscar Championship next year. And the Formula E effort, going into that championship's 'Gen 4' era, will continue too.
Finally, Porsche says it intends to retain its LMGT3 customer programme with Manthey into next year, subject to approval by the WEC selection committee.
Money, as ever, the root
As you may expect, money is at the root of this decision to quit WEC's premier, headline class.
Like many other auto manufacturers worldwide, Porsche has committed millions of dollars to producing and selling electric vehicles.
However, sales of these have been declining, not just for Porsche but for other manufacturers as well. (That said, sales have picked up a little this year... but too little, too late to save the WEC programme.)
This means Porsche's overall corporate revenue has declined over the last couple of years. And that in turn meant cuts needed to be made somewhere.
With a WEC campaign significantly more expensive than either IMSA or Formula E programmes... it's obvious why WEC was cut.
Balance of Performance... or lack thereof...
It's well known that Porsche has not been happy with WEC's application of Balance of Performance this year.
Phil Oakley
Whether this factored into why Porsche have withdrawn from WEC for next year is an unknown, although possibly unlikely.
That said, Porsche aren't really doing too badly this year. They're still in the hunt for both titles as we approach the final race in Bahrain, with Kevin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor 21 points adrift of drivers' championship leaders James Calado, Antonio Giovinazzi, and Alessandro Pier Guidi.
With Bahrain meaning more points on account of it being an 8 hour race, Estre and Vanthoor would need to finish at least third (23 points) while the Ferrari trio don't score at all. So it's an outside shot, but it's a shot nonetheless.
Likewise in the manufacturers' championship, Porsche sit second, 39 points off Ferrari.
While the first half of the season may have a Ferrari walkover – 4 wins out of 4 – the second half has been much more equal, with wins for Cadillac, Porsche's Estre and Vanthoor, and Alpine.
The bombshell withdrawal decision feels much more like a board-level decision over finance and budget cutting. In Porsche's press release they quote a board member before Porsche's motorsport chief Thomas Laudenbach, which may be telling.
But an underlying unhappiness with BoP could well have been a factor in the decision. Unfortunately, we'll likely never know, as WEC's regulations prohibit manufacturers talking directly about BoP or the application of it.
The questions around Proton
Porsche's factory team in WEC, run by Penske, is not the only Porsche team competing in the world championship.
Long-time WEC competitors, Proton Competition, also field a Porsche 963 on a customer basis.
However, whether this effort will continue into 2026 is another question that has yet to be answered.
That's because the WEC rules dictate each manufacturer must run a minimum of two cars in Hypercar in order to enter. It's one reason why we have the JOTA-run factory Cadillacs this year, and not Chip Ganassi's single factory Cadillac effort, as we did in 2023 and 2024. And it's a key factor in Lamborghini's decision to cancel its factory Hypercar campaign after just a single season in WEC.
This rule extends to customer cars too, and means, unless the rule is changed or a loophole found, Proton will have to enter two cars, or none at all.
Currently, it's not clear what Proton will do. The squad does have two 963 chassis; one is run in WEC, and one in IMSA.
However, this is even further complicated by Porsche's ongoing competition at Le Mans specifically, disregarding the rest of the WEC season.
Le Mans 2026
It makes sense that while Porsche has cancelled its 2026 WEC campaign, it would still want to race at Le Mans next year, bringing the IMSA cars over much like Wayne Taylor Racing and Action Express did this year.
Porsche has the most overall wins of any manufacturer at the French endurance classic – 18. The 963 is yet to win the twice-around-the-clock race. It has a car that can feasibly race for the overall win. Porsche's motorsport legacy is rooted in Le Mans. Why would it not?
This, though, is complicated by that two-car rule. In order for WEC to set the Balance of Performance fairly and correctly for Le Mans, at least two cars need to compete the full WEC season.
So, with Porsche no longer having a factory entry in WEC and therefore a guaranteed two-car entry into the race in June, it needs Proton to enter two cars into WEC, if the German manufacturer wants its factory 963s on the grid at Le Mans.
See the problem?
Drivers out of a job
This announcement also leaves Porsche's WEC drivers at a loose end, in theory.
Kevin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor, from the #6 car, the 2024 world champions, plus Julien Andlauer and Michael Christensen in the sister #5 car, may be out of work at the end of the year.
Andlauer in particular was only promoted to a factory Hypercar drive at the start of this year, after two years with Proton's customer 963 effort and even longer in the GT ranks.
Phil Oakley
Plus, it also may leave Porsche's other Hypercar drivers, who drive the 963 in WEC in the longer races and full-time in IMSA wondering about their future too. There is no guarantee the factory IMSA campaign will continue past 2026, especially if Porsche's financial issues and declining EV sales aren't resolved.
There have been rumours about Mathieu Jaminet, Felipe Nasr, and Matt Campbell looking at drives with other teams and manufacturers.
Could they also slot into an expanded Proton customer campaign? We simply don't know.
The continuation of the 911 in LMGT3
Adding an even further complication, Porsche's 911 LMGT3 campaign could also be up in the air.
The programme is run on a customer basis by Manthey, of which Porsche owns a majority share. Take from that what you will.
However, it's well known that in order to compete in LMGT3, a manufacturer ideally needs some kind of presence in Hypercar. Which Porsche may not have next year.
Failing that, a manufacturer or team can also bank on its loyalty to WEC in the past, but this is by no means a guarantee.
Porsche has had at least one 911 in every single WEC race, stretching back to 2012. More often than not, this has been run by Manthey, although Proton Competition , among others, also ran 911s for many years before switching to Ford for LMGT3.
It seems unthinkable that there's a possibility of no 911s in LMGT3 next year, even more so when you consider Porsche is introducing an evo update to the current 911 GT3R. But that's the reality we may be living in come 2026.
Let's hope Porsche and Manthey's loyalty to WEC stands them in good stead to get an entry. With 40 cars now the maximum number of cars in the WEC field, doing the maths indicates there's space based on this year and known entries for next year.
In conclusion...
The answers to many of these questions will reveal themselves over the next few months. In the mean time, we'll bring you more news or insight as and when we have it.
Feature image: Drew Gibson / Porsche