'Clock Is Ticking': Horner Speaks On Power Unit Collaboration With Ford

Thursday, 25 January 2024 at 09:00

Christian Horner spoke about Red Bull's 2026 power unit development in collaboration with Ford at the American car manufacturer's season launch event.

A while ago, Red Bull decided to make a risky, bold move that will heavily impact their chances of competing for the Championship from the 2026 season onward.

As of now, the Austrian team is in a strategic partnership with Honda, which manufactures its power units. But that is about to change in two years.

Producing a power unit is an incredibly difficult task, especially for a team that is a subsidiary of an energy drinks company.

However, Red Bull also has no business in aerodynamics, and the team proved it can beat huge brands like Ferrari or Mercedes in the last two F1 seasons.

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Moreover, Red Bull entered into another strategic partnership with Ford, which will help them in several areas, particularly battery cell and electric motor technology, as well as power unit control software and analytics. Horner said at Ford's season launch event:

"The last 12 months have been incredibly exciting because we’ve been introducing the various departments within Red Bull powertrains, and within Ford."

2026 is two years away, but the development of the power unit has been in process for quite some time already. The team principal continued:

"The exchange of ideas and technology has been fantastic on what is a brand new set of regulations for 2026."

Asked in a recent interview how far his team is with the development of the power unit, Horner refused to elaborate in detail but asserted his team is on a trajectory. He added:

"2026 is not far away, and there is a lot of work to do between now and then. The clock is ticking, Oracle Red Bull and Ford performance teams have been collaborating on a new power unit, and we’re continuing to grow our strategic partnership."