Ford has recently indicated interest in making a comeback to the international Formula One scene, potentially teaming up with Red Bull Racing (RBR) to get back into the open wheel racing series. Mark Rushbrook, head of Ford Performance, recently stated that a return to F1 certainly warrants serious consideration, thanks to the racing division’s growing interest in the U.S. Now, a report from Planet F1 indicates that Ford’s potential F1 partnership with RBR could be announced this week.
RBR is scheduled to make an announcement regarding its future beyond the 2025 season on Friday, February 3rd, 2023. The team is currently partnered with Honda for its powerplants, but their contract is set to expire at the end of 2025, meaning RBR is in need of a new backing manufacturer, which could very well be Ford.
In fact, Vincenzo Landino, journalist specializing in F1, recently posted on Twitter, all but confirming The Blue Oval’s return to F1. “Red Bull’s livery launch date is 3 February in New York City,” Landino writes. “I have word from some of my contacts that Ford is sending some content creators and influencers to NYC on the same date. Coincidence?”
Red Bull’s livery launch date is 3 February in New York City.
I have word from some of my contacts that Ford is sending some content creators and influencers to NYC on the same date.
Coincidence? #F1 https://t.co/QS22ltAVsC
— Vincenzo Landino (@vincenzolandino) January 27, 2023
If it does come to fruition, a Ford/RBR partnership in F1 would not see the automaker take full ownership of the team. Instead, The Blue Oval would instead defer to RBR for technical development of its power units while providing assistance and expertise when needed. A 2026 return date would mark over two decades since Ford’s exit from F1 back in 2004.
It’s also worth noting that Ford already has a standing relationship with Red Bull, whose logo appears on the Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid race cars in the FIA WRC. As it stands, Ford already has a large presence in motorsports overall, and an F1 entry would certainly help to boost The Blue Oval’s popularity in the eyes of international – and domestic – auto racing fanatics.
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Comments
Ford … how about you put that amount to be wasted on Red-Bull and put it towards an extra assembly line for the Maverick … I need a Gray XL, w/trailer hitch an bet matt. Don’t need it ten months from now, my car (bought new) is a ’09 Escape you’re going to lose me !
I see the title Formula 1, or will it be Formula E? With Ford and other brands making such wholesale investments in EV everything, it would make more sense from a marketing perspective, which let’s face it, Ford has done very little with lately outside of NASCAR and most recently IMSA.
If they are thinking of suppling power plants for Red Bull, I wonder what that animal will look like? Can they pull something existing off the shelf and make it work for this application? If not, why go through the expense and trouble of engineering a brand new ICE just for marketing purposes? It’ll be curious to see if anything comes of this, and if so, how it will actually manifest itself.