Ford returns to Formula 1 (manufacturer)
Since the first race in the world, the rule that accompanies the world of motor sports in terms of manufacturers is simple - win on Sunday - sell on Monday.
They will tell you that the races glorify the race, that the track is the world's fastest testing laboratory for technologies that permeate the manufacturer's road cars - well, fine, it's a beautiful story and it also has a certain amount of truth - but what interests the manufacturers is their identification and association with the image of winners on the track and hopefully Also on the road in the sales halls.
And the massive wave of interest in the winner of the Formula 1 round after the Netflix docu-drama series Race to Victory caught the American automakers off guard.
But once they realized the potential, it didn't take long for General Motors and Ford to recognize the potential and announce their entry into the round.
Cadillac did this the previous month when it announced its intention to enter the Grand Prix as the engine supplier for the Andretti Group, founded by Michael Andretti, son of Formula One champion and former Indy and Hanscar driver Mario Andretti, and already competing in Indy and Formula E.
Over the weekend, Audi purchased a stake in the Swiss Formula 1 group Sauber, to which it will supply engines starting in 2026, thereby continuing the legacy of the Auto Union racing group, one of the companies on the basis of which the German manufacturer was founded.
Ford now joins them.
Ford Mach E electric in Red Bull paint (photo: manufacturer's website)
Ford's return will be made in collaboration with the Austrian Red Bull team and the Italian Alfa Tauri team (both teams now use Honda engines) as an engine supplier from the 2026 to 2030 season, when new regulations will come into force on the hybrid engines of the racing cars.
The joining of Ford to Red Bull occurs at a time when Red Bull is the most dominant on the race tracks in the circuit with the world championship in 2022 and in second place in 2021 and 2020.
The question is whether the team will continue to be in this position throughout the following seasons until the partnership comes into effect.
Among the challenges that Ford and Red Bull will work on with the new drive units will be the use of alternative fuels and a 350 kW electric motor to join the gasoline engine.
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Entered Formula 1 for the first time in 1968, then with Lotus (photo: manufacturer website)
While in other races, mainly those in the United States, Ford's history in Formula 1 is not continuous and only begins in 1966 with the engine manufacturer Cosworth as a partner of Lotus.
Over the years it provided some of the most successful Formula 1 engines with the best known being the DFV which stands for Double Four Valve, in fact the engine was so successful that all the cars that won the 1973 season had this engine.
It was succeeded by the DFY in the 1983 season, which was an evolution of the DFV and the next incarnation of the engines in the HB series, again in partnership with Cosworth Ford - a 3.5 liter naturally aspirated V8 used between 1989 and 1994 under the Benton, McLaren, Lotus, Minardi, Simtec and others.
The engine that went through 8 evolutions started with 640 hp and ended with 725 horses in its latest version, not because of engine limitations such as the rules of the circuit. Look for a video of it, speakers at maximum power and you will hear 13,700 rpm like you have never heard in your life.
With this engine at Benton Ford also achieved its greatest achievement, when young Michael Schumacher at Benton picked up his first championship under the noses of the major teams.
Ford retired from Formula 1 in 2004.
Minardi M190 at the 1990 British Grand Prix (photo: manufacturer's website)
"This is the beginning of a new and exciting chapter in the story of Ford's motor sports," said Bill Ford, the chairman of the manufacturer. the long tradition of innovation together with sustainability and electrification to a place where they can be showcased."
It should be noted that for these manufacturers, it is not only the exposure and interest in this sport, but also the opportunity to position themselves as those who develop and implement technologies of using alternative fuels and combining electricity and engines Even in the near future that will not be all electric.
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