American auto giant Ford is mulling a surprise return to Formula 1 with Red Bull Racing.
According to Autosport, Ford has emerged as a candidate to partner the reigning constructors champion on its in-house power unit project for the new engine rules in 2026.
Red Bull Racing is investing in its engine-building capability in a bid to become a self-sufficient works constructor, having been reliant on customer motors for its entire 17-year history.
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It had originally intended to inherit Honda’s power unit technology from this season after the Japanese company moved to withdraw from the sport. But Sakura has been gradually shuffling back from the exit, and Red Bull Racing has continued to use Honda motors as a customer only, albeit with its own branding.
Porsche then emerged as a possible partner once Volkswagen made clear it intended to field at least one brand in the sport, but a long-expected deal to join forces founded at the final moment.
The German marque had intended not only to become an equal partner in the engine-building business but also to buy 50 per cent of the race team, and Red Bull Racing decided the prestige of the partnership wasn’t worth the loss of autonomy.
Ford is now reportedly evaluating a tie-up with the constructors champion.
Though it has no appetite to return to Formula 1 as a constructor, Ford is reportedly interested in the marketing potential of a partnership with Red Bull Racing in what could amount to essentially a high-profile badging exercise on a Red Bull-built power unit.
With interest in Formula 1 booming in the United States and globally, Ford would be able to benefit from a connection to one of the sport’s highest profile teams, while Red Bull Racing would be able to add another blue-chip business to its burgeoning portfolio of US partners.
While Ford has no interest in becoming an engine builder in its own right, Autosport has reported Ford could also supply technical assistance to the engine project where appropriate.
Though Red Bull has insisted that it will have the capability to build its 2026-spec engine entirely in-house — and it has already run its first internal combustion engine on the dyno — it will likely need to lean on a third-party provider for support with the energy recovery elements of the power unit.
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The 2026 Formula 1 power unit will boost electrical output to 350kW, almost three times as much as that produced by the current engine.
Last year Ford published its electrification plan, which will see it invest US$50 billion (A$72.8 billion) in the five years from 2021 with the aim of selling more than two million electric cars annually by 2026.
Ford has an understatedly long history in Formula 1 as an engine supplier, having backed British company Cosworth’s construction of F1 engines between 1967 and 2003. Cosworth motors won 176 races in that time, putting it third on the victory list behind only Ferrari and Mercedes.
A partnership with Red Bull Racing would also represent a reunion of sorts, with Ford having owned the team under the Jaguar brand from between 1999 and 2005, when it was sold to the Austrian energy drinks giant.
Ford and Red Bull also have existing sponsorship connections in the World Rally Championship via the M-Sport team
A Red Bull Racing partnership with Ford would turn the spotlight back on Honda with the clock counting down to the new rules in 2026.
The Japanese marque has been conspicuous in its long exit from Formula 1, and new management has heavily implied that it considers the decision to withdraw from the sport as a mistake, particularly given it powered Max Verstappen to the championship shortly afterwards and followed that with a driver-title double this year.
Sticking with Red Bull Racing as a technical partner on the new engine project would be the easiest way to keep a foot in the door given their existing collaboration, and Honda has been considered the frontrunner to ink a deal ever since the Porsche talks collapsed.
But a Red Bull Racing-Ford tie-up would close the door on a renewed relationship.
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In this context it’s interesting to note that Honda this week registered its interest in becoming a 2026 engine supplier with the FIA independent of Red Bull Powertrains.
Registering interest creates no binding requirement to enter the sport in 2026, but it does keep Honda in discussions with the governing body and other prospective engine builders about the regulations between now and 2026.
Honda is clearly interested in remaining in Formula 1, though it has remained deliberately ambiguous about what form that interest could take.
It could range from playing a minor technical role in an engine program through to returning as an independent engine builder, and there have long been rumors it could make a comeback as a full works constructor too.
AlphaTauri has been floated as a possible purchase opportunity given the strong relationship with Red Bull. A new entry with Andretti Autosport could also be possible — the two companies are already partners in IndyCar, and giving Honda a route back into the sport as a constructor would surely meet the high threshold set by the teams and Formula 1 to approve an 11th license.
