Ford has a history in Formula 1 but has largely been out of the sport over the past couple decades. Now that the sport is experiencing rapid popularity growth in the United States, the Detroit automaker is getting back in, and aligning themselves with the defending World Constructor’s Champions.
While unveiling the RB19 for the 2023 F1 season, it was announced that Red Bull Racing will join forces with Ford. Ford will begin work on developing the power units that will be fit inside Red Bull and AlphaTauri cars starting in 2026 through at least 2030.
The last time Ford took part in Formula 1 was in 2004, when Jaguar (then owned by Ford) raced. Ironically, Ford sold Jaguar Racing to Red Bull and the team became Red Bull Racing. Before Jaguar, Ford built engines throughout most of Formula 1’s history. Ford engines resulted in 13 World Driver’s Championships (tied second all-time), 10 World Constructor’s Championships (tied third all-time), and 176 Grand Prix victories (third all-time)
Ford will enter at a time where Formula 1’s technical regulations change. Starting in 2026, power units will be more eco-friendly and have to be run on fully sustainable fuel, have triple the electrical power, and have a higher percentage of the power unit be made with recyclable parts. Along with all that, the cars will be more powerful as power units are expected to achieve over 1,000 horsepower.
[Ford Performance/The Athletic]
