Ford Announces Return to Formula One in 2026 With Red Bull Partnership

The new RB19 F1 car is unveiled during an event in New York on Feb. 3, 2023. Seth Wenig/AP Photo

Ford will return to Formula One as the engine provider for Red Bull Racing in 2026, the carmaker announced on Friday at Red Bull’s launch event in New York.

Ford will resume its involvement when F1’s new power unit regulations are introduced. The F1 2026 rule changes call for the current twin-turbo V6 engines to run on sustainable fuel and be fitted with hybrid components.

Starting this year, Red Bull Powertrains and Ford will partner to develop the next-generation hybrid power unit that will supply engines for both Oracle Red Bull Racing and its sister team Scuderia Alpha Tauri.

“Ford, alongside world champions, Oracle Red Bull Racing, is returning to the pinnacle of the sport, bringing Ford’s long tradition of innovation, sustainability and electrification to one of the world’s most visible stages,” Bill Ford, the automaker’s executive chair, said in a statement.

Ford said it would provide expertise in areas including battery cell and electric motor technology, as well as power unit control software and analytics.

Red Bull Ford will provide power units to both Red Bull teams until at least 2030.

“Ford’s return to Formula 1 with Red Bull Racing is all about where we are going as a company—increasingly electric, software-defined, modern vehicles and experiences,” said Jim Farley, Ford’s president and CEO.

“F1 will be an incredibly cost-effective platform to innovate, share ideas and technologies, and engage with tens of millions of new customers.”

Ford dominated F1 in the late 1960s and 1970s as an engine manufacturer with Cosworth and the American automaker is the third most successful engine maker in F1 history, with 10 constructors’ championships and 13 drivers’ championships.

Ford’s last involvement in F1 was in 2004 when the company owned the Jaguar F1 Team, which was sold and became Red Bull Racing.

“Ford is a global brand with an incredible heritage in racing and the automotive world and they see the huge value that our platform provides with over half a billion fans around the world,” Stefano Domenicali, President and CEO of F1, said in a statement.

“Our commitment to be Net Zero Carbon by 2030 and to introduce sustainable fuels in the F1 cars from 2026 is also an important reason for their decision to enter F1.”

Red Bull will continue to race with unbranded Honda power units until 2026. Honda withdrew from F1 at the end of the 2021 season and Red Bull used its own-badged engines to win both championships in 2022. Honda still owns the intellectual property of the engines and agreed to maintain and support the powerplants until 2026.

Ford will begin with immediate technical assistance and then supply Ford engines when the new regulations begin.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.