Red Bull's 2026 F1 engine will not be branded as Ford?
Mar.9 - Red Bull, not Ford, will be at the heart of the reigning champion team's power unit for 2026 and beyond.
The energy drink owned team had talks with existing partner Honda, and then Porsche, about potential engine collaborations for the next rules era.
Ultimately, Red Bull decided to team up with Ford.
When asked if the Porsche and Ford talks were happening at the same time, Dr Helmut Marko told Speed Week: "No, the Ford talks were later.
"Both sides approached one another," the top team official added.
"The negotiations were conducted personally by president Bill Ford and CEO Jim Farley with our team boss Christian Horner, who I supported."
Jim Farley, CEO of Ford looks on during the Oracle Red Bull Racing Season Launch 2023 at Classic Car Club Manhattan
It is becoming clear why Red Bull, having set up its new Red Bull Powertrains subsidiary, opted for a Ford alliance rather than one with Honda or Porsche.
"Even if the team may be called Red Bull Ford or Ford Red Bull," explained Marko, "the engine will come solely from Red Bull Powertrains.
"Ford will be involved in battery technology."
Red Bull Racing is currently dominating Formula 1, but behind the scenes there has been a lot of change - particularly after founder Dietrich Mateschitz died.
"We've met twice," Marko said when asked how the relationship with the parent company's new CEO Oliver Mintzlaff is going.
"It remains to be seen how much he will respond to our ideas. Red Bull Racing has always been very independent," said the 79-year-old Austrian.
The Austrian and former driver admits, however, that he is missing Mateschitz.
"It's no longer the case that I report by phone after every session and race. The direct, personal and friendly relationship is no longer there," added Marko.
"Didi was a visionary. I don't see that anymore."
Therefore, Marko said he isn't sure how long he will remain at Red Bull, as he never actually formalised his role with an official title or even a contract.
"I am a free person," Marko said. "I can stop at any time if I'm no longer happy. Let's wait and see how the future turns out."
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Good! No contract the sooner the senile old fool leaves Red Bull and f1 the better!
Marko has steered Red Bull through one dominating effort shortly after Red Bull bought Jaguar and then through the off year when they did not have a good power train through to another era of domination. He knows how to put the right talent in the right places for success and is an F1 enthusiast as was Dieter. Now that the Red Bull commercial arm is no longer under the guidance of an enthusiast we will see if the commercial emphasis rises to the top over the enthusiasm. If that happens don't expect Red Bull to be dominant in F1 for long as they will loose the momentum in a couple of seasons as Ferrari did after loosing Todt, Braun, and Schumacher.
And now MB without NL and probably a.n.other. If you pay your driver mega bucks you should listen to him.
Lucy will be ok , choosing the colour of the car,or where to put the frilly bits, but as for input Nawww, the Domination of the Mercs required very little input from the drivers as the Regs were very stable, borne out by Lulu doing none of the testing all thru the time he was winning , leaving that to his Happy No 2,it seems learning the piano, sky diving and directing/consulting on the latest F1 film ,fashion shows dont really help you design a F1 car..but Good Luck with the rest of the season anyway, id sign up for Panto now, Dames are always in demand Imo
So Ford basically just supplying the battery+battery tech, a lot can happen between now and 1st race in 26 .