In 2026, Red Bull will join forces with Ford to produce their own power units under the revamped engine regulations. The announcement of this collaboration was made in February of this year. However, even prior to partnering with Ford, the Milton Keynes outfit had invested a mammoth sum of around $48 million into research and development of their ambitious powertrains project, which intends to build Red Bull’s own engine for the 2026 season and ahead.
Red Bull Powertrains 2026 Limited was incorporated as a subsidiary of the Red Bull Group back in May of 2022. According to its Financial Statements for the year ended 31.12.2022, the Milton-Keynes-based outfit had already incurred R&D expenses worth £38,036,000 ($48 million approx.) before Ford even came into the picture.
#F1: Even before the Ford partnership was announced by @redbullracing, the team had already invested in R&D worth around $48 million for their 2026 PU through their subsidiary: Red Bull Powertrains 2026 Limited.
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— Anirban Aly Mandal (@AnirbanF1) November 28, 2023
After Honda decided to call it quits on their tenure as a power unit manufacturer in F1 back in 2022, the Milton Keynes outfit decided to take matters into their own hands. Learning from their dismal fate with the Renault engines in the turbo-hybrid era, the team incorporated Red Bull Powertrains Limited (RBPT).
According to their understanding of Honda, RBPT will manufacture and develop engines sourced from the Honda IP until the end of 2025. Thereafter, it will be a pure collaboration between Red Bull and Ford.
It is noteworthy to mention that the huge fiscal implications of having your own engine program mean that the cost cap is exclusive of RBPT’s charge to the front of the engine manufacturer’s race. That being said, Red Bull’s somewhat premature foray into the 2026 engine development are linked with its short alliance with Porsche.
How did Porsche push Red Bull to go independent for 2026 F1 engine regulations
Red Bull and Porsche were tipped to collaborate on a star-studded super-project for the 2026 regulations. That is what gave Red Bull the impetus to kickstart its preparations well in advance.
The statement read, “During 2022 extensive discussions took place with Porsche to partner the 2026 programme. This resulted in facilities, people, and operations associated with the future programme being migrated into a newly established company Red Bull Powertrains 2026 Ltd.”
It would appear that this was in anticipation of the @Porsche deal coming through. However, as the talks broke down, Red Bull decided to go ahead with RBPT 2026 Ltd. anyway, as most of the infrastructure was already in place.
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— Anirban Aly Mandal (@AnirbanF1) November 28, 2023
The deal finally collapsed between the two due to disagreements over who would assume control over the program. This gave Ford the perfect opportunity to partner with Red Bull.
2026 is going to be a make-or-break year for Red Bull. After having undertaken such a complex project, it can either destroy their momentum or make them one of the strongest constructors on the Formula 1 grid.
