Following an exhaustive two-year search, Ford selected Red Bull Racing as its partner for its pending return to Formula 1 racing in 2026. Ford CEO Jim Farley was thrilled about the join-up, and even attended negotiations in a Sergio Pérez hat, declaring his appreciation for the then-RBR driver. After being let go from the team, Pérez is spending 2025 without an F1 ride – and now, he’s all but confirmed to be joining with Ford rival Cadillac for F1 competition in 2026.
As per a report from Autoevolution, the Cadillac F1 outfit is expected to announce a deal with Pérez shortly after the Hungarian Grand Prix in early August. Despite Farley’s apparent status as a fan of his, Pérez blatantly stated that he was not interested in returning to Red Bull (and therefore Ford) because the team “treated him very badly” toward the end.
Red Bull shipped in young Liam Lawson to fill the seat vacated by Pérez, but he didn’t last long, either. Yuki Tsunoda stepped up to the plate alongside the team’s star driver, Max Verstappen. Both Tsunoda and Verstappen are currently employed as wheelmen for Red Bull, but the rumor mill suggests that Verstappen might not stick around.
If he doesn’t, that has no effect on Ford’s plans. Farley says The Blue Oval is surging ahead no matter what, regardless of which drivers are behind the wheel of Red Bull machinery next year. He’s also repeatedly stated that Ford is committed to the tech and the venture of F1 racing, not specific team members.
That sentiment was recently put to the test when Team Principal Chris Horner was unexpectedly cut from Red Bull after over two decades with the team. Horner was the subject an investigation alleging misconduct. The Blue Oval stayed clued into the case, prompting Ford Performance head Mark Rushbrook to make a statement: “As a family company, and a company that holds itself to very high standards of behavior and integrity, we do expect the same from our partners.”
While Cadillac pulls itself together for 2026 competition, it’s interesting to watch the inverse happening at Red Bull. No matter what, though, Ford is sticking with its plans for F1 next year.
Comments
Why doesn’t this guy work on Ford business first, and fix all these recalls first !
If not he should be showed the door, and put a real engineer in his position that knows how to produce a real “best in class” Ford vehicles.
I agree, Farley needs to stop with the racing bull crap and start fixing the recall problems. How this guy is still with ford is beyond me. I drove ford pickups for 46 years and some had their problems but this old guy is probably done with ford.