Yahoo Sports Christian Horner Explains Why Red Bull Is Teaming With Ford
It is no secret that Red Bull Racing and Porsche nearly teamed up, with the German automaker seeking a 50-percent stake in the Formula 1 team. The deal broke down, however, over what Red Bull team principal Christian Horner characterized as a "strategic misalignment." There was no such misalignment with its newly announced partner, Ford.
"We explored the options and Ford stood out as like-minded and sharing the same values and ambitions and it was a very straightforward deal that came together very, very quickly," Horner told media including Road & Track at the team's New York F1 season launch. "I think Bill Ford, Jim Farley, they’re both keen racers and Ford's racing heritage as we enter this competition for 2026, it’s great to have this relationship with Ford that we can draw on their expertise, particular in EV, where as an independent engine manufacture, we'd be at a disadvantage to our competitors."
Horner is adamant that this is not a branding exercise, like Red Bull's previous tie-ups with Infiniti and Aston Martin. "There will be a technical exchange," he said, "of course the facilities are all based in-house at Milton Keynes but we'll be able to draw upon some of the expertise Ford have. You know they're investing billions and billions in the EV sector, cell technology, the battery side, automation, there's things for sure where we can lean on their expertise."
Red Bull Ford Powertrains will build engines for both the Red Bull and Alpha Tauri F1 teams starting 2026, when new regulations are put in place. These regulations are designed to increase the power of the energy-recovery hybrid system up to 469 hp, a 50-percent boost over today's regulations. Horner repeatedly cited Ford's big investment in EV technology as making it a perfect fit for these new F1 rules.
Ford won't take a stake in Red Bull Racing or Red Bull Powertrains. Horner said the two entities simply have a multi-year agreement that outlines what each will bring to the table. Meanwhile, Red Bull's partnership with Honda will continue for the duration of the current engine rules. So, through the end of 2025. As a brief refresher, Honda designed and manufactures the V-6 powering Red Bull's cars. The Japanese automaker kind-of-sort-of pulled out of the sport after 2021, leading Red Bull to set up an in-house powertrain division. Honda still builds the engine and provides technical support to Red Bull, and though Red Bull Powertrains supports the running of the engine, it is not a Red Bull "works" engine.
The tie-up with Ford, however, will see Red Bull have its first full works engine since 2015. "I think the great thing about '26 is that we have everything on site," Horner said.
"We have chassis engineers sitting next to engineers, so the integration of chassis and engine is totally at one, and that shouldn't be underestimated."
In theory, it should make Red Bull a better rival for full works teams—i.e. teams that don't have to buy an engine from another supplier—like Mercedes, Ferrari, Alpine, and new-for-2026 entrant Audi. Given what Red Bull did last year with a customer engine, that should have the rest of the grid a little nervous.
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