F1 Q&A: Red Bull and Ford, Kimi Antonelli, Alpine and the racing line

There has been a lot of talk about Mercedes seemingly being ahead in the development race for the 2026 engines. What are the expectations for Red Bull and Ford, as they begin their new partnership? – James

Ford is returning to Formula 1 for the usual reasons – marketing exposure and technology transfer.

For the US giant, it’s also about differentiating themselves from the mainstream in the rapidly changing global car marketplace, and emphasising the role of electrification in performance road cars.

The rule changes on engines for 2026, and the increase in the amount of power provided by the hybrid element, made it a “natural time” to enter, chief executive officer Jim Farley told BBC Sport in an exclusive interview.

Farley added that an F1 involvement has other benefits that were not realised at the time the decision to enter was made.

“Performance has turned out to be a much bigger thing for the company than I thought four or five years ago when we started this journey,” Farley said.

“At the time, Red Bull was an irreverent team with an irreverent driver. And we liked that as an American company. We didn’t want to be part of the establishment.

“But Formula 1 turns out to have a good foundation for our differentiation in the world of Europe, where the Chinese are becoming increasingly dominant in the EV world, and cars become more of a commodity. Ford wants to walk the opposite direction.

“It’s very clear, at least in our eyes, that high performance will be partially electric, not fully electric and not fully ICE (internal combustion). So this mixed combustion has turned out to be much more important than when we started to go into the sport.”

Since they took the decision, Christian Horner, with whom Farley negotiated the deal, has been sacked as team principal.

It’s well known that Ford were uncomfortable about the allegations of sexual harassment levelled by a female employee at Horner, which he has always denied, and which two internal investigations dismissed.

Farley picked his words carefully on the topic when asked whether he was relieved it had ended the way it had.

“Christian did a lot for Red Bull Racing,” Farley said. “Did so much for the industry, the sport. I don’t think we would use those words to be ‘relieved’.

“But any successful motorsports programme always has stability. Stability of the talent. Stability overall.

“So any time there’s controversy in any motorsports, it can disrupt the stability. And over time, that’s not good for any business.

“So I would say we feel like, going into ’26, we have a stable situation from a talent standpoint, sponsor standpoint, driver standpoint. And I think that’s what we expected when we went to Red Bull. That’s what we expect at Ford.”

Farley referenced some recent comments from Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff, who said that setting up a new powertrains company for the 2026 regulations, as Red Bull have done, is “like climbing Mount Everest”.

Farley added: “We have a lot to do, but so does he. So does everyone.”