In a pivotal strategic move, Red Bull entered into a partnership with the American automotive giant Ford earlier this year, for the 2026 season. The collaboration has a specific focus on advancing power trains and has recently received vindication from Red Bull’s Team Principal. In a recent discussion with Motor Sport Magazine, Christian Horner expressed his satisfaction with the positive developments around the partnership.
While Red Bull Racing currently dominates the F1 circuit with the Honda engine, they wish to extend their advantage into the future. The team is set to use the Honda engine until 2025. But with the Japanese company opting to leave F1 in 2022, the Milton Keynes team is focusing on the 2026 project with Ford.
Their forward-thinking approach to the 2026 engine regulations is evident, as they plan to compete with the original RBPT engines. Considering this the team has begun developing these engines, yet the 2026 regulations face critique from Red Bull duo Christian Horner and Max Verstappen.
Drawing insights from Red Bull’s simulations, their key objection centers on the suggested 50-50 ratio of internal combustion and electrical power. Moreover, they assert that modifications are crucial to ensure lighter cars and avoid peculiar scenarios. For this they illustrated, suggesting instances where drivers might need to downshift on straights to recharge batteries throughout a lap.
However, amid all the demanding work, Red Bull‘s boss expressed his happiness and highlighted Ford’s remarkable commitment and enthusiasm. Horner said, “It’s great to see that commitment and that enthusiasm. To have a brand and an OEM like Ford involved is another string to our bow.”
How does Red Bull intend to use its power trains?
Following the season finale in Abu Dhabi, the Formula 1 community eagerly anticipates the test days in Bahrain in 2024. However, the anticipation extends beyond, especially towards the 2026 season, when the major overhaul is imminent.
This time, the spotlight is on the overhaul of engine regulations, with Red Bull gearing up to run its power unit for the first time. In light of this, an intriguing question arises: Does the Austrian team intend to provide its engines to customer teams?
The Milton Keynes side is strategically opting to not provide its engines to customer teams. Taking this into account Horner said in an exclusive with PlanetF1, “If we become attractive to other formations, we are certainly open to delivering in the future. But as I said, we want to get everything in order ourselves first and earn our stripes.”
However, these engines will continue to propel both the Red Bull and AlphaTauri teams, given they are sister teams. In addition, Ford stickers will be applied to the engines, as the American manufacturer aims to contribute to multiple aspects of the power unit, especially the electric components.
