Ford not entering Formula 1 with ‘bottomless pit’ of resources to bring to Red Bull

Henry Valantine
The Ford badge. 2008.

Image of the car brand Ford. 2008.

Ford Performance boss Mark Rushbrook has said they are not bringing “bottomless” resources with them to Formula 1, as they prepare to partner Red Bull.

The American car giants announced their tie-in with the reigning World Champions at their car launch in New York last week, with Ford joining Red Bull Powertrains as they collaborate on a 2026 Formula 1 power unit together for themselves and sister team AlphaTauri.

Ford already have programmes in the likes of NASCAR, Supercars in Australia and the World Rally Championship, and they will return to the Formula 1 grid after two decades when their partnership with Red Bull takes effect.

But when that happens, they will not be unlimited pools of spending with them to the sport.

“Definitely not bottomless, I can attest to that,” Rushbrook said of the resources at Ford, as per Formula1.com.

“We do go racing in a responsible way, I believe, in all the different series that we go.

“We don’t have an unlimited budget, as much as racing sometimes wants you to go that way. We go in strategically with the right partners to win races, but also with a responsible budget.

“I think this, as an overlay or additional programme, is very special in terms of what the opportunity is and what the real benefit is to the marketing team from our company, to be able to leverage motorsports in a way that we haven’t for a long time.”

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How will Ford and Red Bull work together?

Ford will base some members of their staff at Red Bull Powertrains’ base in Milton Keynes as the team marques begin working on their 2026 power unit together.

While Red Bull are still continuing their co-operation with Honda for the time being, team principal Christian Horner has insisted the two brands will be completely apart from one another and will not share information, particularly as Honda themselves are currently listed as a 2026 power unit provider in Formula 1, though they do not yet have a customer team.

“Well, they’re two very separate projects,” Horner explained to media including PlanetF1.com about the Honda and Ford transition.

“We have a contract with Honda to the end of ’25 and we’re working very closely with Honda on obviously, the next three seasons and the current engine regulations, those engines being prepared and serviced in Japan.

“But there’s a clear wall between the current engine and 2026. So, there’s no danger of any IP transferring in either direction.

“We’ve had such a great relationship with Honda, we’ll be sad to see them depart at the end of 2025. But of course, you know, we started Red Bull Powertrains on the basis that Honda was withdrawing from Formula 1 to take control of our own destiny and, actually, that’s exactly what it’s enabled us to do.”