Ford’s intriguing F1 update as they ramp up Red Bull involvement

Ford have increased their involvement in Red Bull’s engine project for 2026.

After parting ways with Honda, Red Bull decided to form their own engine division - Red Bull Powertrains.

Red Bull have been a customer team since they were founded in 2005, enjoying success with Renault in the early 2010s.

Red Bull were the de facto factory Honda team from 2019, but the Japanese manufacturer announced their intention to withdraw just before Max Verstappen’s first F1 title win.

This led Red Bull to form RBRPT, with Ford joining forces as a technical partner.

Ford’s involvement was initially fairly small, as Red Bull announced that the American brand would “provide skills, experience and knowledge in battery cells and electric motors, plus power unit control software and analytics.”

In a recent interview with Motorsport aktuell, Mark Rushbrook explained that Ford are now involved in all aspects of the design of next year’s car.

“We wanted to learn about electrification: battery cell chemistry, motors, inverters, calibration, control and how everything interacts with the combustion engine. We wanted to learn about optimising fuel efficiency,” he said.

“Initially, we didn’t want to be so involved in combustion engines, but now we are because we obviously still have a lot to learn in this area. Here, we mainly help with the production of parts. So now we are involved in almost the entire car –and also on the operational side.

Major F1 rule change for 2026

2026 will arguably bring the biggest regulation overhaul in F1 history, with sweeping changes to both the chassis and engine rules.

Cars will be smaller and lighter, fitted with active aerodynamics to replace DRS, while the power units will split 50/50 between electric and combustion power and run on fully sustainable fuel.

Rushbrook conceded that even a team of Red Bull’s size didn’t have the necessary resources to build an F1 engine for the first time.

“We were quite lucky with our timing as far as Red Bull was concerned. They had just decided to develop their own powertrain for 2026,” he added.

“It was still at a very early stage, but even then they realised that resources are limited, even for a large Formula 1 team.

“Especially since Milton Keynes had never developed its own engine before.”