Porsche Motorsport 2026 Programme: Formula E, IMSA and GT
Porsche Motorsport unveiled its comprehensive 2026 programme at the traditional "Night of Champions" in Stuttgart on 29 November. The brand will continue its factory commitments in the FIA Formula E World Championship and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
"Porsche and motorsport – they are inextricably linked. With the Cup version of the 911, we are building one of the most successful and best-selling customer racing cars worldwide: the recently unveiled new model will compete in the Supercup and Carrera Cups in Germany, the USA and Asia Pacific in 2026," explains Dr Michael Steiner, Member of the Executive Board for Research and Development at Porsche AG. "We have been promoting young talent for decades: this autumn, we held another junior talent search, which produced two new talents for 2026. We remain committed to endurance racing: in the IMSA with the Porsche 963, in the WEC in the LMGT3 class. And we are intensifying our commitment to Formula E, where the 26/27 season will see the premiere of the GEN4 race cars with greater freedom for manufacturers. We learn in motorsport in a highly competitive environment, which also helps us on the road. The interaction between motorsport and series development here in Weissach makes our sports cars unique and fit for the future."
Thomas Laudenbach, Head of Porsche Motorsport, linked the new season to a strong recent record and a sharper focus on future goals. "The 2025 motorsport year was once again an extremely successful one for Porsche. The titles in the Formula E World Championship and the IMSA series are impressive proof of this," he says. "Second place at Le Mans, just 14 seconds behind – that hurts, no doubt about it. The fact that we were also able to fight for the world championship in the WEC in the end was made possible by tremendous teamwork. We have achieved significant success in customer racing: another class victory at Le Mans, all GT titles in the WEC, DTM victory, and only narrowly missed successes in the big 24-hour races at the Nürburgring and Spa. Now we have repositioned ourselves and are starting afresh – in Formula E as early as next weekend, and at the end of January in Daytona. The 2026 season will be more exciting than almost any other before.”
Porsche enters the 2025/2026 Formula E season as the reigning Teams' and Manufacturers' World Champions, marking its seventh season in the electric series. Alongside the factory Porsche Formula E team, Andretti Formula E will field the efficient Porsche 99X Electric in the current GEN3 Evo specification. Cupra Kiro will continue as a second customer team and will use 99X technology from the previous GEN3 generation. Swiss driver Nico Müller will join the factory lineup after moving from Andretti, and he will replace António Félix da Costa, whose contribution helped Porsche secure three world championship titles across the past three seasons. The twelfth Formula E season begins on 6 December in São Paulo and will conclude the current rules era as the third-generation cars complete their final campaign. Porsche has already started testing the new fourth-generation vehicles with over 800 PS, and it will run development in parallel with a 16-race title fight as it prepares for the GEN4 introduction in 2026/2027.
Porsche Penske Motorsport will aim to extend its dominance in North America after winning all championship titles in the 2024 and 2025 seasons. The works team will again run two Porsche 963 hybrids in the top GTP class of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in 2026. The programme will open at the 24 Hours of Daytona on the last weekend in January. Kévin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor will drive the number 6 car as regulars, while Felipe Nasr and Julien Andlauer will share the number 7. Matt Campbell will support the number 6 crew at Daytona, Sebring and the season-ending Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta. Laurin Heinrich will strengthen the number 7 lineup at those endurance rounds. JDC-Miller MotorSports will also return as a customer entry with a Porsche 963.
Porsche will refresh its wider driver structure for the 2026 motorsport season. The brand will promote former Porsche Juniors Laurin Heinrich and Ayhancan Güven from Porsche drivers to works drivers. Heinrich earned the shift after winning the IMSA GTD Pro Championship title, while Güven impressed by claiming the DTM title last season. Porsche will also expand its squad with Alessandro Ghiretti, Porsche Junior in 2024 and 2025, Dorian Boccolacci from the Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific programme, and British driver Harry King.
Porsche will continue to compete at the factory level in digital racing through the Porsche Coanda Esports Racing Team, which moved into the Porsche Esports Performance Centre in Cologne in May. Alejandro Sánchez Belloso, a 25-year-old Spaniard and former Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup champion, will join Joshua Rogers, Charlie Collins and Dayne Warren for 2026. The team will still aim for a strong finish to the current year with its existing lineup, following Collins and Elvis Rankin's win in the IMSA Esports Global Championship. Ahead of the final on 7 December, the team sits second in the standings. The new Porsche Juniors Schuring and Amand will also enter the final on the digital Daytona circuit with a wildcard as they make their debut as Porsche Junior drivers in Esports.
Across global GT racing, Porsche customer teams will campaign the comprehensively improved Porsche 911 GT3 R in the biggest championships and headline events in 2026. The brand will build on its 2025 success with partner teams in the FIA World Endurance Championship and the DTM, while also targeting strong programmes in the IMSA Championship, the GT World Challenge, and the major 24-hour races at the Nürburgring and Spa-Francorchamps. In GT4, customer teams will continue to rely on the proven Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport.
Porsche will introduce a significant change in one-make competition as the new Porsche 911 Cup makes its race debut in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup in 2026. Customer teams will race the 382 kW (520 hp) car across eight rounds held during European Formula 1 weekends. The new Cup car will also debut in the Carrera Cups in Germany, North America and Asia Pacific. Porsche will help teams and drivers familiarise themselves with the vehicle through a joint rollout of 50 new examples from the Supercup and the Porsche Sixt Carrera Cup Germany on the Formula 1 circuit in Barcelona at the beginning of March. Porsche will also stage the Carrera World Cup at the same venue in 2026 and expects up to 100 one-make cup drivers to participate.
Porsche will keep its long-running talent pathway central to the 2026 plan. Flynt Schuring and Marcus Amand will become Porsche Juniors for the 2026 season after both 19-year-olds won a shootout involving twelve young drivers around two weeks ago. Each will contest a full season of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup and a national Porsche Carrera Cup next year. Amand won the Porsche Carrera Cup France title in 2025, while Schuring claimed three wins in the Porsche Sixt Carrera Cup Germany and finished third overall in the Supercup. Porsche Motorsport will support each junior with up to €120,000 and provide intensive coaching in vehicle technology, setup, fitness, nutrition, media, marketing, and career planning. The company has nurtured young talent since 1997, and past graduates include Le Mans winners Timo Bernhard and Marc Lieb, IMSA champions Matt Campbell and Mathieu Jaminet, and reigning DTM champion Ayhancan Güven.
Porsche also highlighted the prestige of the Porsche Cup as a marker of customer racing excellence. Loek Hartog received the traditional Porsche Cup on Saturday, 29 November, after beating 497 competitors from 53 nations to become the 56th title holder. His 2025 results included class victories in the GT World Challenge Europe and the Intercontinental GT Challenge, as well as a podium finish at the 24 Hours of Nürburgring. The 2024 Porsche Carrera Cup North America champion will receive €150,000, while Porsche Motorsport will award more than €280,000 in total prize money to the most successful private drivers. Ferry Porsche initiated the Porsche Cup in 1970.
For 2026, Porsche lists its factory drivers as Julien Andlauer, Matt Campbell, Michael Christensen, Kévin Estre, Ayhancan Güven, Laurin Heinrich, Richard Lietz, Nico Müller, Felipe Nasr, Thomas Preining, Nick Tandy, Laurens Vanthoor and Pascal Wehrlein. The factory esports roster features Alejandro Belloso Sanchez, Charlie Collins, Joshua Rogers and Dayne Warren. Porsche also names its 2026 driver group as Klaus Bachler, David Beckmann, Dorian Boccolacci, Bastian Buus, Ricardo Feller, Michelle Gatting, Alessandro Ghiretti, Wolf Henzler, Marco Holzer, Gabriela Jílková, Harry King, Nico Menzel, Sven Müller, Alessio Picariello, Morris Schuring, Marco Seefried and Joel Sturm, while it confirms Marcus Amand and Flynt Schuring as Porsche Juniors for 2026.
