Ford 'back where it belongs' in F1 return with Red Bull

Ford’s return to the Formula 1 grid this year with Red Bull Racing puts the car giant “back where it belongs”, according to its racing division chief Will Ford, the great-great grandson of company founder Henry.

Speaking at Ford Racing’s season launch in Detroit, during which the liveries that the new Red Bull and Racing Bulls challengers will sport this season were revealed, Ford Racing boss Will Ford said that “22 years is too long” for the firm to be away from F1, adding: “the Blue Oval is back where it belongs.”

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While the liveries of the two cars were revealed, the actual machines themselves remain under wraps, with development progressing rapidly for the radical new regulations being introduced for this year.

Why Ford is back in F1

The Blue Oval is one of the most successful marques in F1 history, with its engines having taken 176 race wins and powered 13 drivers’ and 10 constructors’ championships. But it hasn’t had an official presence on the F1 grid since it sold the Jaguar Racing squad to Red Bull at the end of 2004.

Red Bull has established its own powertrain division to develop power units that its eponymous multiple title-winning outfit and sister squad Racing Bulls from this season onwards – and in 2023 reached a tie-up with Ford. 

While the Red Bull Ford Powertrains division is based at the F1 team’s campus in Milton Keynes, Ford engineers have played an active role in the development of the new power unit, which mates a 1.6-litre turbocharged combustion engine with a large hybrid system.

Although Red Bull’s powertrain arm is leading the project, Ford insisted that the firm was playing a key role in the development of the new power unit, and that it would benefit its road car offerings.

“The high-voltage systems and battery software we are refining for 2026 are the literal blueprints for the trucks and cars our customers will drive every day,” said Ford. “We are Ford aren’t only in F1 to collect trophies. We are there to engineer more capable Ford vehicles.”

How Red Bull and Ford will collaborate

Phil Prew, Red Bull Powertrains’ chief engineer – who previously worked for Mercedes-AMG’s engine programme and before that was Lewis Hamilton’s chief engineer at McLaren in his 2008 title-winning season – said that the new 2026 rules package represented “the biggest shift in regulations the sport has ever seen”, with new chassis, powertrain and tyre rules.