Image via Formula 1
After more than 20 years away from the sport, Ford will make a comeback to Formula 1 in 2026 and is expected to team up with Red Bull.
Ford has confirmed it will resume its involvement when new power unit regulations are imposed, having left Formula One in 2004. This announcement comes ahead of Red Bull’s 2023 season premiere on Friday morning in New York City. It sold its works team Jaguar to Red Bull at the time, and when it returns, it is anticipated to operate with the same team.
“This is the start of a thrilling new chapter in Ford’s motorsports story that began when my great-grandfather won a race that helped launch our company,” executive chair Bill Ford said. “Ford is returning to the pinnacle of the sport, bringing Ford’s long tradition of innovation, sustainability and electrification to one of the world’s most visible stages.”
With 176 victories, Ford is still F1’s third-most successful engine manufacturer. This includes a dominant run with the DFV in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
“There are few manufacturers who have such a celebrated motorsport history as Ford, so to see them coming back to the FIA Formula 1 World Championship is excellent news,” FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem added. “It further underlines the success of the 2026 power unit regulations that have at their heart a commitment to both sustainability and spectacle, and of course having more interest from the United States is important of the continued growth of the world’s top motorsport category.”