Ford will return to F1 in 2026 as an engine builder

Formula 1 just can’t seem to keep American car companies away. Last month, we were stunned by the news that Cadillac wants to enter F1 with the Andretti team, which is seeking an entry into the sport. While that bid remains in doubt, here’s one that isn’t: Today, the Ford Motor Company revealed it will be back in F1 starting in 2026, when the new engine rules come into effect.

“This is the start of a thrilling new chapter in Ford’s motorsports story that began when my great-grandfather won a race that helped launch our company,” said Bill Ford, executive chair of Ford. “Ford is returning to the pinnacle of the sport, bringing Ford’s long tradition of innovation, sustainability, and electrification to one of the world’s most visible stages.”

Ford’s first foray into F1 began in 1967 when Colin Chapman, the head of Lotus, persuaded Ford to pay for the development of a new racing engine that would be a stressed part of the F1 chassis. (In other words, it was a structural element of the car rather than being mounted in a cradle or subframe.) After being initially rebuffed, Chapman convinced Walter Hayes, the head of Ford UK’s PR, to help him lobby the suits, and the result was a development budget of £100,000—about $1.7 million today—given to Cosworth to create the engine.

The Lotus-Ford 49 of Jim Clark leads the Brabham-Repco BT19 of Jack Brabham at Zandvoort in Holland in 1967.

Credit: Bernard Cahier/Getty Images

It was a heck of an investment. The Ford DFV, for “double four-valve,” remains the most successful F1 engine of all time. Team Lotus won four races that year, at which point Ford told Chapman that the DFV was no longer exclusive to his team. Other teams were now free to design their cars with stressed engines, and for £7,500 (about $125,000 today), you could buy a race-winning engine for your F1 team.

And win races it did. Between 1967 and 1985, DFV-powered cars entered 262 F1 races and took home victory in 155 of them. In 1969 and 1973, only DFV-powered F1 cars won races. And that’s without accounting for the variants of the engine that went on to be used in sports car racing or in F3000 (which was the series just below F1, now once again called F2).

Post-DFV, Ford remained in the sport, and while it was never quite as competitive in the 3.5 L and 3.0 L eras, it won races and a championship with Benetton (including Michael Schumacher’s first wins and championship), as well as a race victory in 1999 with the Stewart team and then a final win under rather chaotic conditions at the 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix with the Jordan team.

In 1994, Michael Schumacher won his first World Driver’s Championship with Ford power in his Benetton B194.

Pascal Rondeau/Allsport

In 1994, Michael Schumacher won his first World Driver’s Championship with Ford power in his Benetton B194. Pascal Rondeau/Allsport

In 1999, Johnny Herbert got Stewart-Ford’s single F1 win at the European Grand Prix, held at the Nürburgring.

Paul-Henri Cahier /Getty Images

In 1999, Johnny Herbert got Stewart-Ford’s single F1 win at the European Grand Prix, held at the Nürburgring. Paul-Henri Cahier /Getty Images

Ford’s last F1 win came under chaotic circumstances for Giancarlo Fisichella at the 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix. The win and trophy were originally awarded to McLaren’s Kimi Raikkonen due to a timekeeping error, but a week later, the result was corrected.

Clive Rose/Getty Images

Ford’s last F1 win came under chaotic circumstances for Giancarlo Fisichella at the 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix. The win and trophy were originally awarded to McLaren’s Kimi Raikkonen due to a timekeeping error, but a week later, the result was corrected. Clive Rose/Getty Images

In 1999, Johnny Herbert got Stewart-Ford’s single F1 win at the European Grand Prix, held at the Nürburgring. Paul-Henri Cahier /Getty Images

Ford’s last F1 win came under chaotic circumstances for Giancarlo Fisichella at the 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix. The win and trophy were originally awarded to McLaren’s Kimi Raikkonen due to a timekeeping error, but a week later, the result was corrected. Clive Rose/Getty Images

It’s not the 1960s anymore

2026’s F1 engine rules are a bit less complex than today’s, as the MGU-H, which recovers waste energy from (and deploys energy to) the turbocharger, is going away in favor of a more-powerful MGU-K, which recovers kinetic energy from (and deploys it to) the rear wheels under braking. Dropping the complicated and not-road-car-relevant MGU-H was a criterion for Volkswagen Group to enter F1 in 2026, which will happen with the Audi brand after it bought the Sauber team last year.

Porsche, another VW Group brand, was also looking set to enter the sport in 2026. Unlike Audi, which will build its own engines, Porsche was believed to be looking to badge an existing F1 engine program by taking over Red Bull Powertrains, which the race team set up when its engine supplier Honda announced plans to quit the sport. Since then, Red Bull and Porsche have been unable to agree on terms, and Honda’s departure has been forestalled by the team’s recent success.