The partnership between Red Bull Racing and the Ford Motor Company has been confirmed, after the carmaker officially announced its return to Formula 1.
Earlier this week, Mirror Sport reported that a deal was close between the two giant brands, which would see Ford return to F1 for the first time since 2004. Their last involvement was owning the Jaguar team, which it sold to Red Bull and later became the team it is today.
Confirmation of the partnership was briefly leaked through an Italian news agency on Thursday before it was hastily deleted. It was finally made official on Friday at Red Bull's huge 2023 season launch event, held in New York City.
Executive chairman Bill Ford confirmed the news of Ford's F1 return ahead of the event. He said: "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.
"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."
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner reacted on stage to the partnership announcement: "This is tremendously exciting – it's a big moment for us, for our team and for Red Bull Powertrains, on this journey for 2026.
"We welcome the Ford brand back into Formula 1. To become a Red Bull-Ford engine and power unit is incredibly exciting and, for us, having the ability to draw on your experience, EV knowledge and depth of resource is tremendously exciting.
"From the first moment we met and spoke with Bill Ford, it was very clear there was a natural synergy between the two companies. It was a very easy deal to put together because the desire was there from both sides."
The deal with Red Bull is specifically for its new powertrains project, which is currently developing their new engines to be used from the 2026 season. Those power units will be badged by Ford, though given the resource put into the programme by Red Bull they are not expected to play any part in power unit development.
Instead, the deal is a sponsorship which will help the team to fun the creation, development and upkeep of their power units project. The Ford brand will not be present in the team name, which will remain as Oracle Red Bull Racing after the £400m deal with the tech firm announced last February.
F1 chief executive Stefano Domenicali said of Ford's return to the sport: "The news today that Ford is coming to Formula 1 from 2026 is great for the sport and we are excited to see them join the incredible automotive partners already in Formula 1.
"Ford is a global brand with an incredible heritage in racing and the automotive world and they see the huge value that our platform provides with over half a billion fans around the world."
Red Bull also showed off the livery of their new RB19 car at the launch event. The colour scheme and design stays true to their more recent efforts, though it was also announced that fans will get the chance to design their cars for the three races to take place in the US over the coming campaign.
