Ford returns to Formula One as partner to Red Bull

Ford is returning to Formula One after more than two decades as a partner to reigning champions Red Bull Powertrains.

The automaker will reenter F1 in 2026, when new regulations will require teams to use fully sustainable ethanol as fuel and increase electrical power by as much as 50 percent. Audi also plans to join then, and while Porsche’s talks with Red Bull recently faltered, it’s still eyeing a way into the racing series.

"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," said executive chairman Bill Ford. "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," he said.

Ford sold its Jaguar branded F1 team to Red Bull in 2004 and the current champions are still based at the same factory in central England.

Ford has a rich history in F1, winning 10 Constructors’ championships and 13 drivers’ championships during a roughly decade and a half stretch that ended in the early 1980s.

The automaker last appeared in F1 with Jordan in 2004 but the company remains the sport's third most successful engine manufacturer of all time.

Ford and Red Bull Powertrains will provide the power units for both the Oracle Red Bull Racing and Scuderia AlphaTauri teams from 2026 to at least 2030.

Ford said it would provide expertise in areas including battery cell and electric motor technology, as well as power unit control software and analytics.

Starting from 2023, Ford and Red Bull Powertrains will work to develop the power unit that will be part of the new technical regulations, including a 350 kilowatt electric motor and a new combustion engine able to accept fully sustainable fuels, ready for the 2026 season.

"As an independent engine manufacturer to have the ability to benefit from an OEM's experience like Ford puts us in good stead against the competition," said Red Bull team principal Christian Horner.

Ford CEO Jim Farley said the company's return to F1 "is all about where we are going as a company -- increasingly electric, software-defined, modern vehicles and experiences."

Farley drove an electric Ford car into the announcement venue in New York. "F1 will be an incredibly cost-effective platform to innovate, share ideas and technologies, and engage with tens of millions of new customers," he said.

Farley is a longtime racing enthusiast and competed in his first professional race last month at Daytona International Speedway in Florida.

"I’m more relevant to our designers and our engineers. I’m not some disconnected CEO," Farley told auto-enthusiast magazine Road & Track. "It keeps me fresh, being around car people. I’m not at a country club playing golf. I’m with my people. The most intense users."

F1’s popularity has soared since billionaire John Malone’s Liberty Media  acquired the franchise in a $4.4 billion deal in 2017.

The once-stodgy and European-centric sport has cultivated a new generation of fans with a direct-to-consumer streaming service and the popular Netflix series "Drive to Survive."

The 2022 season averaged 1.21 million viewers per race, up 28 percent from a record set the prior year, according to ESPN.

GM's Cadillac may race too

Ford’s crosstown rival General Motors also is attempting to enter F1 by partnering with Michael Andretti, the son of legendary driver Mario Andretti.

The sport’s governing body opened up an application process for prospective teams on Wednesday, weeks after FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem said he welcomed the news of Andretti’s tie-up with GM’s Cadillac and looked forward to further discussion.

Reuters and Bloomberg contributed to this report