Red Bull and Ford draw closer, Honda looks for another team for 2026

The growing interest of the world’s largest car manufacturers in entering Formula 1 is neither sudden nor inexplicable. It is the result of two factors: the development of the sport in the United States and the new technical engine regulation that will come into force in 2026.

As for the first, the North American market is now particularly critical for most factories – European, Japanese and, of course, American. F1 has been owned by the American Liberty Media for five years, which has gradually managed to establish itself among Americans.

With three GPs to be held in the US (Miami, Texas and Las Vegas) in 2023, an American driver – Logan Sargeant with Williams – will drive a full season after a decade and a half, while the interest from Michael Andretti’s team on the road is huge from Haas and also creates his own in Formula 1.

The second factor in the 2026 technical regulations relates to the aggregates. The single-seaters will have a much larger share of electrification in three years’ time, which puts more emphasis – mechanically and mostly in terms of advertising and marketing – on electricity. This appeals to factories as it fits perfectly with their trade policy for production cars and makes F1 a global showcase for their technology.

Consequently, it’s not inexplicable that Ford is considering its options for entering Formula 1 in 2026. The Blue Oval company had a factory involvement in the sport from 2000 to 2004, created the Jaguar team, but did not bring Ford the expected results, to the point of deciding to sell the Milton Keynes team to Red Bull. And the rest is history.

Her thoughts ford for 2026

Since then, Ford has never shown any interest in Formula 1, but due to the two factors above, things appear to be changing for 2026. The first – reliable – information says that the American company, in principle, is not interested in investing heavily and creating its own group or building engines.

This fits perfectly with Red Bull’s strategy. The Austrian company plans to start building its own engines in its newly built Red Bull Powertrains factory in Milton Keynes from 2026. Therefore, a sponsorship partnership with Ford – along the lines of Alfa Romeo with Sauber using Ferrari engines – would fit into both companies’ plans.

RBR director Christian Horner said: “We are fully committed to its engine program RedBull, And if there was a like-minded partner who would contribute to the program, then we would certainly consider it. But it is not a requirement. We will be the first team to go beyond that Ferrari where we will build our chassis and engine under one roof. In the long term, this is the right thing for the competitiveness of the team.”

RBR discussed such a possibility with Porsche earlier this year, but their negotiations fell through when Porsche demanded control and 50% ownership of the team. However, as Horner said, the Austrian company is open to suggestions from other factories that want to either put their name on the engine or offer technical support, or both.

It is said that Ford’s desire is completely different from Porsche’s desire. The blue oval company reportedly doesn’t want any control over the development of the team or the power unit, other than to contribute to the technological field and to associate its brand with the specific engine.

For Ford, this will be very useful in terms of visibility and marketing, while Red Bull will reap the side benefits of working with an American giant as F1 grows rapidly in the US market. After all, the two companies are already working together in the WRC, where Red Bull is the main sponsor of M-Sport Ford – in which the American company also has a (significant) technological stake remotely.

Whats up with her Honda

Ford’s contact with Red Bull quite rightly raises the question of what Honda will decide for 2026 at the end of 2025.

After the Red Bull-Porsche debacle, the relationship between RBR and Honda was reheated and there were extensive talks in Tokyo to restore Honda’s factory involvement and continued collaboration in 2026.

But there was a dead end here: who would build the engines? Honda in Tokyo or Red Bull Powertrains in Milton Keynes? A compromise was sought and eventually – as confirmed by Helmut Marko – the possibility of RBP making the V6 turbocharged heat engines and Honda in Japan making the hybrid propulsion system was discussed. This script initially seemed quite complicated, cumbersome and somewhat difficult to understand.

A few weeks passed, and a few days ago it was revealed that Honda had submitted its own standalone application to Formula 1 to be added to its 2026 engine supplier list. Since Red Bull Powertrains has done the same, questions have been raised – too Right – if there really is a collaboration between Red Bull and Honda in 2026.

Along the way, the first reports emerged that the design of just the hybrid system – and not the entire power unit – was not what Honda wanted. Officially, the Japanese claim they submitted their 2026 autonomous entry to secure a seat – which they ultimately don’t need to fill – and to be able to attend the F1-FIA manufacturers meetings for the 2026 engines.

But Ford’s alleged contacts with Red Bull, when not indicative of RBR and Honda’s desire to go their separate ways, certainly complicate their partnership and prompt the Japanese to consider other options for 2026. Options either focusing on supply engines, in one from McLaren, Aston Martin or Williams, or purchasing a team to rebuild the official Honda factory team after 2008. And this team cannot be ruled out that it is even Alpha Tauri if it is decided by the successors of Dietrich Matesitz who died last November.

It is now certain that Honda is considering new options apart from Red Bull, but it is also certain that a decision has not yet been made. And there are certainly great teams like McLaren and Aston Martin that need factory support and power units to be successful in Formula 1 in the second half of the decade.