Ford Motor Company is in the process of hiring new staff to flesh out its ranks with a view towards its F1 entry with Red Bull in 2026.

The American automotive brand will rejoin the Formula 1 grid after more than two decades away once the sport moves to its next generation of power unit regulations.

Those are slated for 2026 when Ford will link up with Red Bull Powertrains, the two organisations already collaborating to develop an engine for the world championship-winning sister company.

Staff from Ford are set to be based at Red Bull’s Milton Keynes base as the F1 programme leverages some of the automaker’s expertise in a relationship that extends beyond a naming rights deal.

“We’ve got regular communication set up with them, very regular communication,” Ford’s global motorsport boss Mark Rushbrook told Speedcafe.com.

“And some projects that are identified already that are well underway, and still uncovering additional projects from that.

“It’s a really exciting time to develop that relationship, to understand how far they are along in the development process for the new power unit for 2026 and where they need help, and where we can contribute and finding those matches.

“We’ve already found a lot and I’m sure we’re going to find more.”

Ford Red Bull F1 collaboration

Red Bull’s F1 boss, Christian Horner, highlighted one of the advantages of working with Ford is leveraging is existing expertise.

“Their objectives are very similar to ours, they’re obviously looking to come back into Formula 1, investing massively in the EV side of the business,” he said.

“That gives us the ability to draw on their expertise, on cell technology and electrification.”

The plan is to integrate Ford staff within the Red Bull Powertrains operation in the United Kingdom, though for the moment that has not happened.

Ford has resources in Detroit it is already able to throw into action on the Red Bull F1 project with Rushbrook confirming it is on the hunt for more.

“We’ve got a pretty deep motorsports team already,” Rushbrook explained.

“We’re set up so that most of our engineers are functionally based so that they can move across different programmes to work on powertrain, combustion engine or electrified, aerodynamics, vehicle dynamics, chassis, so we’re able to move people as we need to, but we’re also hiring more people.

“As ambitious as Red Bull was to take on their own powertrain programme, and as much great work they’ve already done with facilities, with people, with a plan, they knew they needed more than what they could do within their own campus,” he added.

“They needed to be with an automotive company, and in that very first discussion, we identified some of the areas of opportunity, which is what we’ve already started working on.

“It’s already producing results from that, so I’ve got no concerns at all that this is a meaningful engineering engagement.”