Formula 1 has long been a European affair. Cars were revealed under rain clouds hanging over Silverstone or on Italy's famous Fiorano asphalt. But on 15 January, the F1 world will look to the birthplace of the muscle car, Detroit, for Red Bull's unveiling of its 2026 challenger.
Ford and Red Bull Racing will reveal their 2026 car at the former's world headquarters alongside sister team Visa Cash App RB. While this will prove to be a great opportunity to market to a growing American viewership, it's also a promise from the partnership between the brands: Ford's input is much more than just a logo on an engine cover.
Red Bull Ford Powertrains, the team's power unit division, will debut in 2026, with the American brand lending technical support from years of road car experience.
Ford CEO Jim Farley has been explicit that this joining of forces is a "pure tech transfer" arrangement, not just the signing of a rather large cheque. So if you fancy yourself an enthusiast of the Blue Oval, you'll want to be paying attention.
The 'Tech Transfer' is Real, Not Just Marketing
It would be easy to roll your eyes at ventures like this. For a sport once dominated by cryptocurrency and betting partners, it can be difficult to take it seriously. But what Ford and Red Bull have is a real sharing of knowledge.
This season brings a new set of regulations to F1. A whole new set of aerodynamics is being implemented, but the really interesting change comes in the shape of a new power unit. With a 50/50 split between internal combustion and electric power, it's the furthest F1 has ever leant into battery and EV technology. And if you haven't noticed, the road car marketing is doing the same thing.
Ford, therefore, will be learning from its motorsport development.
F1 cars need to dump huge amounts of electrical energy quickly. Ford will use the research and development in this to produce lighter and punchier batteries for its future road cars as it develops the hybrid aspect of the power unit. But plans change.
"The original list was focused on the electrification part of it: the battery cell, the motor, the inverter, the software, and the calibration board. That was primarily the list, and that has certainly been delivered," Ford Performance director Mark Rushbrook told Autosport.
"But what we didn't expect, and what wasn't a priority for us initially, was the combustion engine. That changed during the programme, especially as our road car cycle plan has changed."
The Michigan-based outfit will continue to develop ICE, hybrid, and EV road cars, and therefore wants to gain as much as it can from its F1 development to support this. In fact, its choice to do this was directly linked to what's looking like a long and successful future of internal combustion in the championship.
"A lot of the actual parts that are being made in Dearborn [Michigan, USA] now are on the combustion engine side of the power unit. Those parts are being made daily and shipped daily.”
The precision necessary has forcefully pushed Ford to a "higher level" of quality and dimensional control - something that will likely trickle down into its day-to-day manufacturing processes.
With both F1 and Ford keeping their hands dirty in ICE, engineers of the marque will be gaining data that directly supports its fan-favourite road cars. Rushbrook even teased a V8 with a level of electrification in the future.
Max Verstappen's Verdict
There's a fear that the 2026 power units will sound more like a Dyson than an F-150. After he heard his new power unit fire up on the dyno, the four-time champion's worries were put to rest.
"It sounded good," he told the Talking Bull podcast (at around the 23:20 mark). "Of course, you hear it on a dyno, but it sounded crisp... I'm not sure it's developed on the noise, but it made a good noise."
This is a strong endorsement.
With Audi launching its team later this month and Mercedes, Ferrari, and Honda also revealing their power unit development soon, the manufacturer war is truly beginning. And it's us who will reap the benefits.
