It’s going to be a big year for Ford Racing, the Detroit automaker’s motorsports arm on Thursday night revealing plans for an array of projects, starting with the reveal of the new F1 racer that will campaign under the Oracle Red Bull Racing flag this year using a new Ford hybrid powertrain. Ford, meanwhile, confirmed its returning to the 24 Hours of Le Mans with a new hypercar. Headlight.News has more.
Ford Motor Co. has never aimed low when it comes to motorsport but the Ford Racing team will be shooting for the moon over the next several years, it confirmed Thursday night during a well-attended event at the automaker’s Michigan Central Station near downtown Detroit.
In prior years Ford Racing had staged its annual debut down in Charlotte, North Carolina, Ground Zero for the NASCAR series that was long the highlight of the automaker’s motorsports program. But while that program isn’t quite taking a back seat it had to seat central stage to two other big efforts Ford is committing major dollars to.
The highlight of the evening: the unveiling of the two Formula One race cars that will be using new powertrains developed in a partnership between Red Bull Racing and Ford Racing. The Detroit automaker also offered some insight into its plans to make a long-overdue return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans where it delivered one of racing’s biggest upsets six decades ago by taking down the vaunted Ferrari team.
“Racing is personal”
Ford Chairman Bill Ford, (r), and Will Ford, (c), agreed that racing is “personal” for Ford, the company and Ford, the family.
Ford’s ties to motorsports run deep, recalled the company’s Chairman Bill Ford, recalling how his great-grandfather Henry Ford built a racer called Sweepstakes, potential sponsors waiting to see how it would perform. “Our company was born on the race track in 1901,” the executive told the crowd. “Our great-grandfather won, got the money and started the company.”
“Racing is personal for us,” Ford added.
Nowhere is that more apparent than with Ford’s plan to return to Le Mans in 2027. That was the site of a duel between Ford and Ferrari that has inspired plenty of stories, books and even film. In a historic race in 1966, not only did Ford’s original GT40 cross the finish line first but GT40s took all three podium spots, ending the Italian automaker’s six-year winning streak.
New endurance hypercar
Ford only teased the look of its Le Mans WEC Hypercar.
“Le Mans is ingrained in our DNA,” said Will Ford, the chairman’s son, who now overseas motorsports efforts.
While Ford revealed only limited information on Thursday it said it would be going after its first overall win at Le Mans in nearly six decades campaigning an all-new World Endurance Championship, or WEC, hypercar.
One thing about the effort was predetermined, said the younger Ford. “If you think we’re going back to a hypercar without a V-8 you’re out of your mind.” In fact, the WEC program will literally be driven by a naturally aspirated version of Ford’s 5.4-liter Coyote V-8, one sharing a similar architecture to the engine used in its Mustang GT3 race car.
“It is more than just a component; it is the identity of the car,” Dan Sayers, Ford Racing’s Hypercar program manager, said. “When you hear a Ford coming down the Mulsanne Straight at three in the morning, you shouldn’t have to look at the badge to know who it is. That is why we chose the Coyote.”
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Ford virtually rolls out new F1 hybrid power unit
Red Bull and Ford offered a VR look at their new, hybrid power unit.
It’s long been expected Ford would eventually go back to Le Mans. The bigger question was whether it might take a shot at Formula One. The decision was made once FIA, the organizers behind the sport, ordered one of the biggest changes ever, requiring that fully half of the power generated by an F1 racer, starting in 2026, had to come from a hybrid system.
“If the regulations didn’t change,” said Ford CEO Jim Farley, “I don’t think we would have done this.”
On Thursday, Ford and Red Bull presented the first look – albeit in entirely VR form — at the “power unit” they’ve been working on for the last couple years. Known as the DM01, the system combines a turbocharged 1.6-liter V-6 internal combustion engine to a hybrid system weighing in at a mere 16 kg, or just over 35 pounds. But it can pump out a peak 350 kW, or 470 hp.
New F1 livery revealed
New liveries for the two Red Bull teams.
Developing the new power unit has been no easy task, requiring a massive investment that included construction of three new plants. But a powertrain alone doesn’t win races. On Thursday night, Red Bull and Ford revealed the new livery that will be seen on the F1 circuit. Or, more precisely, two sets of livery as they’re backing two factory teams:
- Oracle Red Bull Racing; and
- Visa Cash App Racing Bulls.
Surprisingly, “Ford” is not part of the name for either team. And the company’s Blue Oval logo only appears in subdued form towards the rear of each car. But the automaker will certainly have bragging rights should the new power unit deliver, as promised. Nonetheless, officials from both Ford and Red Bull made it clear there will likely be a shake-out period where they aren’t realistically going to expect to be delivering podium-level performance during the early days of the upcoming season.
But everyone competing this year should face some challenges considering the cars themselves are undergoing significant changes. They’ll not only be lighter but a bit shorter and narrower than in 2025. They’ll have a higher ride height and flatter floor, and they won’t make nearly as much downforce.
All told, 2026 will bring some of, if not the, biggest regulatory changes to F1 from a technical standpoint that the sports has seen in decades. Ford and Red Bull are betting this will give them a better-than-normal chance to come in and actually score some points towards the championship.
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