Let's put Ford's F1 ambitions with Red Bull in c0ntext against Cadillac, Audi, and Red Bull's old days with Infinit.
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With an agreement with Red Bull Powertrains, the Ford name is set to be back in F1 in 2026, a full 22 years since the brand’s name appeared on the Jordan EJ14. It’s a big deal to have one of the world’s largest and most iconic car manufacturers back in the sport. But what does that return actually look like? What involvement will Ford have?
Above: Karl Wendlinger in a Sauber-Ford at Estoril, 1995.
The 2026 regulations bring about another shift in F1’s power units, with the 1.6 liter V-6 formula set to stay. Revisions to the hybrid system will see the complexity and cost reduced, something that is certainly welcome from teams and power unit manufacturers. Red Bull was set to develop the new power unit on its own, thanks to its acquisition of Honda’s facility as the manufacturer leaves the sport, again. Ford is coming in as a “strategic partner” in this, which is not the same as coming in as a new power unit manufacturer.
Let me explain.
Automakers seem to take a few different routes into F1. First, there’s sponsorship, which Red Bull is used to. Aston Martin and Infiniti were former title partners of the team, but were involved for marketing, not technical development. Alfa Romeo is currently Sauber’s title sponsor.
Red Bull when it had Infiniti sponsorship.
DW Burnett
Then there are full manufacturers. In 2026, Sauber is set to become Audi’s entry into Formula 1. The automaker acquired a 25 percent stake in Sauber and has been approved by the FIA as a new power unit maker for 2026, so Audi will design and build its own engine and hybrid system for the team formerly known as Sauber. This is akin to how Mercedes, Ferrari, and Alpine currently operate.
Interestingly, Red Bull was set to take a major investment from Porsche. Porsche was going to take a 50 percent stake in the entire operation, not just the engine building side of the program. It ended up falling apart, Red Bull seemingly wanting to contain any partnership to the engine side, but not the team side. Porsche wasn’t content with that, and the deal was dead.
The middle ground is what Ford is doing, the strategic partnership. This doesn’t necessarily mean setting up a full engine facility or developing an entire chassis, but it does mean getting both marketing exposure and providing engineering expertise to a team that will then, theoretically, help the car manufacturer with its own development. This is similar to how the Andretti Cadillac team hopes to operate, with GM dedicating funding–rumored to be in the low nine figures–and engineering to the team without actually building its own engine, at least initially.
Ford’s strategic partnership with Red Bull Powertrains would not appear to be a total buyout of the facility. Ford is getting naming rights, but the company name still has Red Bull in it. If it was a full Ford effort, the Red Bull name would be gone. Ford will contribute in battery and electric development among other areas, and will immediately get its name on a championship-caliber car.
Graham Hill in a 1967 Lotus 49, the first car with the Ford-Cosworth DFV.
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It’s a strategy that’s worked well for Ford in the past. Ford’s longtime partner for these projects was Cosworth. Ford wrote Cosworth a check in the Sixties and that birthed the DFV, the most successful racing engine of all time. That partnership lasted for decades, with Ford-Cosworth engines leading the pack in F1, IndyCar, and elsewhere. In the late Nineties, Ford tip toed back into F1, backing the Stewart Grand Prix team and putting a Ford badge on a Cosworth V-10. Ford went so far as to buy Stewart before the 2000 season, renaming it Jaguar Racing but leaving its own name off the engines, which were still provided by Cosworth. When Red Bull bought Jaguar Racing from Ford in 2004, the Cosworth partnership continued into 2005.
The ultimate irony here is that Ford will be Red Bull’s partner in engine development 19 years after Ford sold the entire team to Red Bull.
There are big advantages for Red Bull in this operation. Red Bull isn’t an automaker, obviously. While that hasn’t hindered the team’s performance on track, it was set to be the only non-automaker to build its own engine in F1. A tall ask. Having Ford’s backing means there’s a deep bench of both knowledge and engineering talent it can lean on. Ford has been working on battery tech and small displacement engines for ages now, two things that will come in handy for 2026.
Ford came back into F1 in a big way in the Nineties, backing the Stewart team. Ford bought the team outright and renamed in Jaguar. Then Ford sold that team to… Red Bull.
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Ford says this current deal will last until 2030, at which point there are likely a few choices. Ford leaves if it has gotten everything it wanted, which leaves Red Bull to find a new partner. Ford stays on in the same capacity since it finds the partnership to be beneficial on multiple fronts. Perhaps most unlikely, Ford buys the whole engine facility outright.
For now, F1 gets more automaker involvement. Red Bull gets more resources in engine development. And Ford gets to put its name on a front-running F1 team without spending the money or resources to set up an entirely new engine facility. It’s a win for everyone.
Travis Okulski Editor-at-Large Travis is an editor at Road & Track.
Keyword: Ford's F1 Announcement Is More Than a Sponsorship, Less Than a Full Engine Manufacturer