Exclusive: Why Ford remains confident it is "on track" with 2026 Red Bull F1 engine

The 2025 Formula 1 campaign is only a quarter of the way through, yet a lot of focus and energy is already being directed towards what comes next. That’s especially true for the power units, since the shift to greater electrical deployment in the power mix has influenced almost every other facet of the incoming rules package.

After a few weeks of hysteria about the possible return of naturally aspirated V10 engines, F1 realigned itself behind the original goal of turbocharged power units with more electrical power, the deletion of the costly and troublesome MGU-H, and with an internal combustion engine running on fully sustainable fuels. Work has been under way for a long time at all PU manufacturers, including Ford, which has teamed up with Red Bull Powertrains in a new facility in Milton Keynes.

“It just continues to grow stronger every day,” Ford Performance boss Mark Rushbrook told Autosport. “Ever since the very first discussion leading to signing the contract – and to be honest, work already started before the contract was signed.

"Overall, we're on track of what we are delivering to the development of the ICE and the electric components. Obviously, there is still a lot of work to do and a lot of durability to prove out, but in terms of the partnership, the openness and the two-way contribution, it is everything that we wanted and even more than we thought."

Rushbrook confirmed that Ford is contributing more to the Red Bull project than originally envisaged.

"The initial focus or agreement was mostly on the electrification side,” he said. “But in terms of the number of components that we're able to build within our advanced manufacturing facility and with our printing machines, it has become more than that and we’re able to contribute real-time in the development phase.

Jim Farley, CEO of Ford, Mark Rushbrook, Ford and Red Bull Racing Team Principal Christian Horner

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

“We're literally making parts every day and shipping parts from Dearborn every day that are being tested in the labs in Milton Keynes. Many of those will actually go into production as well.

“It’s testing our people, our processes and our facilities. It's pushing us to do things we've never done before, even in other motorsports or production programmes.

“It's built on a basis of what we've already done, but it's pushing it even further in terms of the timeliness, the quality control and the precision that's required. We've learned so much in meeting those requirements, but we've been able to deliver to those requirements.”

In that sense, F1 is more challenging than other motorsport series Ford has been involved in. The technology involved takes much longer to develop to the required standards, since rivals who have been in the game for longer have built up vast quantities of expertise.

“To develop a GT3, an entire car, is a shorter timeframe than the development of this power unit,” said Rushbrook. “It was a two-year development programme for our Mustang GT3, and in 2026 we will be three and a half years into the development just for a power unit. And you're sprinting at a faster pace for three and a half years than you are doing for the two years of developing a car.”

It highlights the challenges of this F1 project, even more since Red Bull Powertrains is a newcomer and Ford had no experience with hybrid F1 engines either. Hence the partners have had to buy in some of that know-how.

Red Bull Ford Powertrains

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

“It's built from scratch, but it's built from scratch with experienced people that have already been in Formula 1,” said Rushbrook. “Yes, there's a lot of new hires or people with less experience as well.

“But within our team, everybody's a racer and they're moving at a fast pace already. When you see other people moving at an even faster pace, you accelerate and you match that pace, right? That's what our team has done.”

Can Red Bull and Ford be competitive in 2026?

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has acknowledged that this joint programme is taking on manufacturers with decades of experience in F1, meaning that the challenge is significant. Asked if Red Bull and Ford at least hit all the internal milestones, Rushbrook responds: "Yes, but there's always exceptions, right? Because you never hit everything 100%. But in terms of hitting the power numbers, absolutely.

"But then the durability testing has to match that and has to follow that. So do you hit everything perfect? No, because that's the reality of a programme. But you know that's going to happen along the way and then it's a matter of how you react to what you find along the way, with what sense of urgency and what mindset of the people. We're reacting to everything that we see.

"As you are developing and finding more power along the way, there's testing that gets done for the durability. So it's basically power, durability, power, durability."

In that way, all PU manufacturers are trying to push the boundaries, although getting a clear picture of the opposition is almost impossible.

"No, you don't know where they are at," said Rushbrook. "Unless you are testing on the same dyno and under the same conditions, you simply don't know. There's hearsay, right, of who's where, who's ahead, who's behind, but honestly nobody really knows."

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images

Paddock chatter has it that Mercedes seems confident – Horner was quick to cite this when Mercedes spoke out against some changes to the 2026 regulations. Asked if Rushbrook shares the same opinion and sees confidence at Mercedes, the global director of Ford performance replied: "Yes. Well, Christian and I are on the same page on almost everything, so yes."

If getting a clear picture of the opposition is almost impossible, then the question remains where Red Bull and Ford see reasons for confidence that they can at least be competitive in 2026.

"When you see and understand the rules, then you're able to, based upon judgement and understanding those rules, decide what should be possible within the margins of those regulations," said Rushbrook.

"Now, we may have said, this is what's possible and this is the way to get there, so that's the track that we're on. But we don't know if Mercedes or Ferrari think that something different is possible.

“It may be higher or lower than us, so everybody can say that they're on track, but they may be on track to a different development."

It’s exactly what makes 2026 such a step into the unknown, even for people directly involved in one of the programmes.

The internal goals can be met, but everything depends on where the competitors have put their bar - and that remains a major question mark until the cars hit the track in 2026.