Ford returning to Formula One
Ford Performance Motorsports Global Director Mark Rushbrook enters The Fox Garage to talk about the automaker's return to Formula One with Red Bull Racing.
The Ford name will be back on a Formula One car in 2026. Four of them, actually.
The automaker is teaming up with Red Bull to develop the hybrid power unit that will be used in the company's 2026 entries.
Red Bull Ford Powertrains will co-develop the power unit for Oracle Red Bull Racing and its sister team Scuderia Alpha Tauri, both outfits fielding two cars each.
The move comes a month after Cadillac announced it was teaming up with Andretti Motorsport on a bid to enter an expansion team in the series, which has not yet been approved.
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Max Verstappen and Oracle Red Bull Racing won the last two F1 drivers championships. (Heuler Andrey/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images)
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen is the two-time defending series champion. The team currently uses a power unit that was originally developed by Honda.
Ford was a Formula One engine supplier from 1967 to 2004 and racked up 174 wins along the way, which is still third all-time despite its extended absence. It last ran a team under the Jaguar name, which was sold in 2005 and became Red Bull Racing.
The Jaguar Formula One team was sold to Red Bull in 2005. (Clive Mason/Getty Images)
The series is set to launch an all-new car and formula in 2026, which opened up an opportunity for Ford to get involved again, according to Ford Performance Motorsports Global Director Mark Rushbrook.
Ford's previous F1 engines have been V8s and V10s. (Ford)
"The changes that have been made in the sport to provide a technical foundation based on sustainability, based on more electrification in the power unit, really gives us that opportunity for technical contribution and technical learning," Rushbrook told Fox News Digital. "It's the right time."
The power unit will be based around a turbocharged V6 engine like today's, but it will be combined with a more powerful electric motor contributing about 470 of 1,000 total horsepower.
Formula One's current power unit combines a 1.6-liter turbocharged V6 and an electric motor in a hybrid configuration. (F1)
Rushbrook said the experience gained working on the power control unit, battery cells and aerodynamics will help Ford develop its electrified production cars.
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The internal combustion engine will also run on a synthetic fuel made from sequestered carbon that will provide net-zero emissions when it is burned.
Graham Hill won the 1968 F1 championship driving a Lotus-Ford. (Bernard Cahier/Getty Images)
"That's part of what attracted us to take a serious look at Formula One," Rushbrook said.
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Along with the race wins, Ford-powered cars also has 10 constructor's championships and 13 driver's championships, with Graham Hill, Jackie Stewart and Michael Schumacher among those who won for the brand.